Crystal Springs
by SafyreSky
Summary: Jack has an awful secret; with the North Pole melting and his new life threatened, he's forced to share. The solution? His family back home in Crystal Springs. With an ancient threat targeting Jack's family AND Christmas—using his sister, Jacqueline, unbeknownst to everyone—including her—to spread chaos, healing old wounds won't be easy. At all. (Post SC3. MAJOR OC's Warning).
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Never, ever in his _very_ long life had Bernard ever been as angry as he was at this very moment.

But then again, never had he ever been sent off on a 'vacation', as Scott had put it in January.

Bernard saw it as more of a 'forced-against-my-will-to-take-a-very-long-torturious-stress-leave-and-be-totally-cut-off-from-work-for-who-knows-how-long' type thing. And though he'd never admit it, he did enjoy the solitude. And for a little bit, he maybe did unwind and quite possibly, dare he say it, _enjoy_ himself.

Enough was enough, though. Santa thought that Bernard was completely cut off from the workshop, but despite Santa's ignorance, not every elf liked Curtis as their head-elf, and even though Bernard seemed like he was always working, he _did_ have a social life and some very good friends.

Every so often, Judy would visit him and update him on what was going on. Mrs. Claus herself sent him letters, too—he wasn't totally out of the loop.

Which was a relief, since Santa had thought it wise to leave _Curtis_ in charge while he was gone.

_"Glad you finally agreed, Bernard! The vacation will do you some good. Don't say a word! Curtis will take care of everything up here!"_

_"The Keeper of the Code?! You can't be serious."_

_"Hey! I'm also number two elf, in case you forgot."_

_ "Yeah, well I'm _head elf_, and I-"_

_"Bernard, stop worrying! This will be a great opportunity for both of you! Curtis can get some experience as head-elf, in case you decide to settle down with some lovely lady elf one day. You can relax, wind down, and take it easy, you know?"_

_"This is a terrible idea."_

Somehow, though, they had convinced him to take a small leave, and he listened-_stupid!_ He thought to himself.

Stopping his angry march for a moment to focus in on Elfsburg, he disappeared in a shower of gold sparks, reappearing a little ways away from the elf city surrounding Santa's workshop.

Leaving _Curtis_ in charge, honestly! Sometimes Santa really irked the curly haired elf.

He knew something bad would happen, and it did—Jack Frost decided to mess around with Nature _and _upstage Santa! Which of course landed old Frost-Face community service at the North Pole, because Santa just had to be so willing to give him a second chance!

That was the last he had heard, until about an hour ago, when Judy had appeared and told him about _everything _that had happened.

And somehow this was Curtis' fault; Bernard _knew_ it.

Now, enough was enough; it was time he restored some order and got back to work.

He marched towards the edge of the hill that surrounded the city, past the large snowbanks, the very lively snowman—

_Wait, what?_ He thought, suddenly stopping. No elves ever came up here to build snowmen. He turned around and stared at its lifelike face. There were so many things about this snowman that screamed troublesome winter sprite-the blue coal eyes? Coal was not blue, as far as he was concerned. Especially since the eyes were looking _right back at him_.

"Hiding out, Frost, huh?"

"No no no wait-!"

Before the snowman could say anything else, Bernard blasted it. The snowman exploded and a person fell over, right into the snowbank.

"—wrong Frost," she-she? Murmured.

"Jacqueline?"

"Yes…" Jacqueline replied from the snow pile that had previously served as her snowman disguise.

Bernard climbed over the large snowy hills, grabbing her pale hand and pulling her out of the snow bank.

"Oh, thank you, Bernard," she said, dusting snow off her white dress.

"What are you doing all the way out here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, you know…"

There was silence for a moment, as the two teen-like figures stared at each other. Jacqueline Frost, of all people to run into.

"It's been a little while since I saw you, a few decades, maybe?"

"Sounds about right. Nice to see you around the Pole once more, as well. When my family heard about your…umm… _vacation,_ we were kind of surprised."

"You and me both," he murmured.

"I guess you heard about what Jack did?"

"I have a general idea. He froze Laura and Neil and locked them in a cupboard with Lucy, who is probably scarred for life now, and tricked Santa into using the Escape Clause! Judy couldn't tell me much about what it was like with Frost as Santa—she couldn't seem to remember— but she seemed shaken up."

"I'm not surprised. It wasn't a pleasant timeline…" the young sprite visibly shivered, a pained look on her face.

"You remember?"

"I still have my connection with him. While he was Santa, guess who was Jack Frost? Everyone thought I was _insane_… I've never been so tired in my _life_."

Bernard nodded. "Well this has been a _lovely_ chat that _I_ don't have time for! I've got a workshop to reorganize, an elf to patronize, and Mother Nature _knows_ how many other problems I'll have to fix, after what Frost did. No offense." He threw the last sentence back over his shoulder, once more resuming his march down the hill.

"Oh, none taken. You're always politer than most people who talk to me," she murmured.

Stopping in his tracks, he turned around.

"Why _are_ you here though?"

"Well I woke up this morning looking like this," she said, gesturing to her white dress and brown hair, "and feeling more tropical than usual. And since they weren't my feelings, I assumed that it was Jack. I think something might have thawed him out."

"That's not possible."

"Exactly. I wanted to see for myself, but...I don't know if I could face him just yet. Not after the Day of Darkness."

The Day of Darkness, every immortal remembered that; the day Jack Frost left his family and wreaked havoc on all the immortals, nearly destroying their city.

"Reasonable enough. Well, I'll be off now."

"Wait! Bernard? Do you think…maybe you could do a favour for me?"

He raised an eyebrow, and cocked his head forward a bit—he'd listen.

"Could you tell me? Tell me what happened when you find out? Tell me if it's true; if my brother really _has_ thawed out. Please."

He stared at the young sprite, who had always been very opposite her brother and concerned for her family, and nodded.

"Sure thing," he said, smiling a tad. She had helped him _quite a bit_ in the past. It wouldn't hurt to repay her.

"Thank you," she replied, watching the elf as he continued on his way to the North Pole.

* * *

**A/N Hello again, friends! I've been planning Crystal Springs in my head since the movie came out. I had to mold the city, shape the characters, figure out a lot of my theories and make them all fit, and work out a lot of Jacqueline's characteristics to mold her into the complete opposite of an insert-yourself Mary-Sue-Now she's nothing like me or a Mary Sue, thank god. Well, I hope she doesn't come across as on in this little story.**

**I'm writing the full story out first. Right now I'm on chappie four or five; so take note of this, guys: I will not be updating this anytime in the near future, not until I've passed at least chapter 10. I have 3 events I need to figure out before I can continuously update-though I ****_will_**** finish it, mark my words. I've waited too long to write it and post it! :D**

**This is just the prologue; I'll probably post chapter 1 next Monday and then leave it be until I'm well into the story itself, this way everyoe gets a good idea of what's to come ;)**

**Hopefully I got Bernard relatively in character. I know everyone pulls the 'grumpy head elf' bit but he's probably most definitely a sweetheart, I mean he's great with kids and pretty sassy (as seen in TSC :p).**

**Any pointers on his character are lovely; remember, this is only the prologue! I promise you when I finally do start updating regularly, the chapters will be longer and have much conversation. Finally, I get to unleash the Frosts on Jack, and see how their relationships change once he makes a reappearance.  
**

**Side note: Meet the Frosts is a good prequel to this, but they can be read separately, mind you.**

**And as always, reviews and the like are love! Drop a line, tell me your thoughts, send me smileys, give me virtual food, tell me how you enjoyed the prologue!**

**TL;DR**

**I got to post the story I've always wanted to post finally, won't be updating regularly after next Monday, however; be patient, lovely people. Reviews are nice! :D**

**DISCLAIMER:**

**I do not own ****_The Santa Clause_**** movies, Jack Frost, Bernard, or any other character mentioned here as they are portrayed in ****_The Santa Clause_**** universe. I'm not making any profit off of this. I ****do**** own Crystal Springs, as well as Jacqueline. Please do not use without my permission.**


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

Eleven months.

It had been eleven months since Jack had _almost_ permanently replaced Santa and achieved his old life-long dream of being recognized and glorified by people everywhere.

Eleven months since he had been defeated-by a little girl, to boot.

Eleven months since he had been thawed.

And surprisingly, Jack felt great!

Well, nearly.

After being hugged to death by all the inhabitants of the North Pole, Santa delivering the gifts and baby Claus being born, a meeting had been called for the twenty-sixth of December. The Council of Legendary Figures had no idea what to do now. The meeting lasted a _while_ and was pretty boring, except for when they actually focused on the issue at hand—Jack.

_That_ was when it had gotten interesting. Mother Nature was positive about the change; as was Father Time. Both of them believed it was permanent. Santa, on the other hand, was adamantly against it.

It was back and forth between Santa and Mother Nature for a while, the other figures watching with interest, Jack occasionally trying to interrupt.

_"He froze my family, took over the North Pole, upstaged me, and suddenly he's wearing white and you want me to believe that it's a good change?! I don't think so! I've given him way too many chances!"_

_"Santa, please, you must trust me. Jack has been thawed and I can assure you it is permanent; he won't be trouble anymore. Now, I'm not saying that he shouldn't make up for what he did—that's a must, and we will get to that—I'm trying to tell you that—"_

_"I get it, alright? But I don't think we should just go all willy nilly and accept him!"_

_"Oh, give it a rest, Santa. Mother Nature is right, I'm done with the evil things! I've never felt so coherent and, and, _awake_ in a while—"_

_"Oh, please…"_

The banter went on for a while, and chaos ensued. His spot on the council was on the line, and Jack had been devastated—until someone unexpected arrived…

_The doors had burst open, and in came Bernard. Everyone stopped talking, staring at the former head elf._

_"Bernard! You're back earlier than we thought!"_

_"I'm surprised I even left for as long as I did since from what I heard, no good came from me being gone! Where's Frost?"_

_Bernard looked around, locking eyes with Jack._

_"So it _is_ true, then. You _have _been thawed out. I didn't think it was possible."_

_"That makes two of us."_

That had been enough for Santa; he reluctantly accepted the change as soon as Bernard agreed with Mother Nature, explaining how he had heard about everything and someone who had told Bernard that Jack may have been thawed out.

And so, with that, Jack was once more sentenced to community service—but this was intense. He was constantly watched by either Bernard or Santa, (not Curtis, who was put back in research and development), and was tossed here and there, working hard alongside the elves as well as Santa himself.

There was gift wrapping (which he was exceptionally good at—gifts so pretty he pretended that they wouldn't be unwrapped violently by little children everywhere), repairs to the houses, shops, and other buildings of Elfsburg, cookie making, and then decorating (yet he snacked more than he did decorate), and on top of all that, his proper wintertime duties. Mother Nature checked in on him once a week, and slowly but surely, he gained more time to himself, and regained the very flakey trust of everyone that he hadn't had in _centuries!_

He was even solidifying relationships—finally, he was friends with Santa. Carol even had him babysit little Buddy (though babysitting wasn't his favourite task, too many diapers, schedules, and _very_ smelly).

So why shouldn't he feel great? He was appreciated, recognized, trusted, and he liked it, he _liked_ the good feeling!

There was just one little problem…

Jack lacked the Frost.

His powers seemed to have shorted out. His icy breathe was barely there, his snowballs were _pathetic_; he couldn't freeze anything!

At first, he told himself it was only temporary, they'd come back, he'd be dancing under a snowfall again in no time!

Instead, though, it had just gotten worse.

The North Pole slowly got warmer; and by June, it was very noticeable—the North Pole was melting.

And Jack was ashamed of himself.

The elves started wearing less layers, until they were walking around in breezy skirts and shorts, shoes sans socks and sandals on their feet. The icicles he had so carefully crafted were dripping, getting smaller and smaller; even _Santa_ and the Missus pulled out summer clothes that hadn't seen the light of day in quite some time!

He couldn't tell them, couldn't tell _anyone_ that _the _Jack Frost, master of ice and snow, Legendary figure, had no powers—that he was about as useful as a _mortal_.

But it was costing him greatly. They were starting to suspect him of going back to his old ways; people looked at him suspiciously again. Carol had tried talking to him, but he dodged the subject. At every Council he attended, they brought it up, and he narrowly would avoid it.

Now, though, he was very much close to admitting the truth and spilling the beans. Everyone was suspicious of him again, and finally, Santa had confronted him.

_"Jack, c'mon! You've been dodging our questions for months! Everyone's starting to think you're going back to your old ways, and frankly, I'm starting to believe them. You and I both know what happens if the ice cap melts."_

_Jack was appalled. "Santa, I'd never force the Deliquesce on you! On anyone in the pole, or the world, for that matter! I couldn't watch the pole and Elfsburg be destroyed, along with Christmas! You got to believe me Santa, please! As a friend… please."_

_"As Santa, and including your track record prior to this year, I can't rule it out. That's why we're having an emergency meeting, right now. As a friend… I've seen you change, I know you're good, but you won't tell me why it's like Hawaii here! Nobody wants to see Santa in shorts, not even himself. I want to help you, Jack. And if this is how you'll accept help, by force, then so be it. My office in ten minutes. Be there, Jack."_

And he looked at Jack with pleading eyes, before leaving him alone.

And so now, here Jack stood. Watching the elves work hard, the spirit was high; but all Jack felt was troubled and sad.

"Frost, there you are! C'mon, the council's waiting," Bernard marched out of the workshop, very close to dragging Jack back inside and towards Santa's office.

He stopped playing with his pathetic snowball, and sighed.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming, the council didn't need to send you to babysit."

Bernard's eye twitched, as he bit back an unfriendly retort. "Well let's get going, c'mon, I've got a schedule to keep…"

Jack followed him in, walking as if to his own personal death sentence.

* * *

**A/N-There you have it! Chapter One! I didn't realize how short it was, so SURPRISE! I shall unleash Chapter Two upon you anywhere from next Monday to sooner... depending on how I feel and on how _you_ feel. (Wink, wink!)**

**So now we have the canon characters! I have to admit, I'm kinda proud with how I'm writing them! They don't seem totally OOC at all! I think I did Santa justice, but do tell if you think something is off. **

**And Jack. Thawed Jack Frost. Now we know his terrible, awful secret and the consequences of his pride LEGASP. Thawed Jack is a lot of fun to write, because we don't know exactly how he'll act or how he'll be, so we can take creative liberties, which I have done. Jack's going to still hopefully have his "I'm a charming, seductive debutante and I am flawless!" attitude, but he'll be very troubled and afraid, as well; he even gets a sob fest later, and that was fun to write. **

**What do you think of thawed Jack so far, hmm? I tried to imagine myself as him, just turned good and a looming task ahead and no powers and wow poor Jack.**

**I can happily say we're past the flashback slash catch up period of the story, and now we're moving on to the good bits. You'll love the council meeting guys ;)**

**Thank you for the support, my lovely readers, I appreciate every fave, watch, follow, etc. I especially love your reviews, lovelies! so keep them coming, they fuel my desire to write this ol' thing! :D**

**Tell me your thoughts, feels, interests, anything! I love to hear from you all!**

**DISCLAIMER**

**I do not own _the Santa Clause,_ nor do I own Santa Claus, Jack Frost, Bernard, Mother Nature, Baby Claus, Carol/Mrs Claus, or any other Legendary Figure slash character as portrayed in _The Santa Clause _universe. I do, however, own the concept of the Deliquesce in this context. Please do not use without permission. **


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

The Council of Legendary Figures sat on the plush chairs and couches in Santa's office. The Easter Bunny bickered with Cupid, as usual. Tooth Fairy watched from the sofa, adding his twenty-five cents in every so often, glancing at Sandman sleeping. Santa was deep in discussion with Mother Nature and Father Time, a worried look on his face. Carol sat nearby, paying attention as she played with almost one-year-old baby Claus.

Bernard cleared his throat as they entered, a hush descending among the council once Jack came into the room and stopped. Bernard rushed to his post by Santa, hands behind his back, ready to watch the proceedings.

"Jack, how lovely to see you," Mother Nature began, "Though I wish it was under better circumstances."

"Fruit killer…" Easter Bunny murmured under his breath, Cupid snickering.

Under normal circumstances, Jack would've shot a snarky retort. Now, the only thing he wanted to say was _if only._

When he didn't take Easter Bunny's bait, they looked at him, slightly concerned.

"You okay buddy?" Tooth asked.

"I'm fine, never been better…"

The whole council was silent, looking at Jack. He _really_ didn't look good.

"Alright, now that we're all here, let's begin, shall we? I hear by call this emergency council meeting to session, to discuss the only issue at hand here. The warming conditions of the North Pole and lack of response from councilmember Jack Frost."

He flinched, visibly, breathing in deeply.

"What's going on, Jack?" Santa began.

He just shook his head, silently.

"You need to give us a reason to why this is happening. If you don't tell us, the Deliquesce _will_ happen, Jack. The Pole would be exposed, the magic lost, Elfsburg and the workshop destroyed. And if you offer no explanation…"

"We'll all be forced to assume the worst," Mother Nature finished for Father Time.

The council hummed in agreement and nodded.

"Jack, buddy, it looks that way to us!"

"It's obvious that you're _still_ trying to take down Santa!"

Jack scoffed. "Santa is my closest friend, Bunny. I don't _want_ to take him down!"

"But ya did last year…"

"Dude, you're not helping," Tooth Fairy murmured.

"Hey, I'm just stating the obvious…."

"Cupid is right, though! Jack has always been sabotaging the workshop, you all saw! Maybe he's just waiting for his opportune moment, before he strikes the heart of Christmas!"

"You're just still bitter over the Easter of '64…"

"Here we go again," Tooth sighed.

"You sent a blizzard with whiteout conditions to North America! You crushed ALL THE EGGS, and don't get me started on the hail in Berlin—"

"ENOUGH." Mother Nature said. "Jack, I am truly sorry for this. We want to help you, we really do. But you keep dodging our questions, Jack. You and I both know this year was supposed to be a white Christmas for the North. Instead of snow, it's wet and rainy!"

There was silence, everyone looking at Jack.

"C'mon, Jack. As a friend. Just tell us," Santa begged.

"I… I Can't. I just—"

"Then we will have no choice but to suspend you, Jack." Mother Nature said solemnly.

"Ha! We should've done it _last year!"_

"Shut up, Bunny," Cupid warned.

"Nawh, c'mon! Why should I! You're all standing here, questioning him like he's a two hundred year old faerie, but we all know what he's capable of!"

"You know what," Jack said, standing. "I'm getting real tired of this. I have done nothing for the past year but help Santa all I can, try to make myself a better man, and I know, okay, I know it won't make up for all of the bad things I've done—"

"Like forcing the Escape Clause."

"Or the pocket watch incident?"

_"Easter of '64…_"

"The Day of Darkness!"

"Stop! Alright? I get it. I am a terrible person. I 'vet wrecked a lot of things and destroyed a lot of relationships and messed up really bad. But I have worked too hard for this. I can't be suspended—"

"Why Jack? Why not. With the eminent threat of the Deliquesce upon us, and you _not_ giving us a reason to the warm weather here, we have to assume that's the case!"

"But it's not! You wanna know why this is happening?!" Jack said, angrily standing up, "I lack the Frost, okay? My powers refuse to work properly, if at all. I can't even freeze dry my hair, as if this white suit is enough! I look _ancient!_ I can't frost the window sills, I can't even make a decent snowball; I'm surprised my normal magic hasn't left me either! I am as useless as a mortal and I didn't want to tell because what am I without my powers? How can I be Jack Frost when I lack the Frost?"

The whole council sat, stunned.

He shook his head. Jack had hit his lowest point. He felt like crying.

"Oh, Jack…" Mother Nature said walking towards him.

"Wait, so let me just get caught up here," Santa began. "Jack can't use his powers. They're just _gone._ And because, because Jack isn't as frosty, Christmas is being threatened?! Why is it always Christmas?" Santa said, bewildered.

"You see, Santa," Cupid began, "Jack is very important to Christmas. Those polar ice caps? Only he can really keep them frozen and safe."

"If his powers have shorted, the ice doesn't have its usual magical stamina keeping it up. And because of that, the Pole starts warming."

Santa was bewildered. "Jack, we've got to find a way to fix this. Mother Nature, can't you do anything?"

She shook her head. "I've told you before, I can't interfere with other councilmembers powers; especially his."

The council was silent for a moment, thoughtful.

"Wait," Easter Bunny said, "What about the Legate Law?"

"The what in the what now?" Santa asked.

"The Legate Law," Jack said. "Every Legendary Figure is required to have a second in command to step in if needed."

"Kind of like me, to you," Bernard mentioned, trying to help Santa understand. "Just on a way bigger level."

"Does everyone have a Legate?"

The council nodded.

"My niece, Aphrodite."

"My youngest kid, Blossom."

Santa was surprised. "Even Sandy? And Tooth?"

They both nodded.

"What about you and Father Time?"

"I have my apprentices, Day and Night; and they have their three trainees, each."

"Why I was a Legate once, myself," Mother Nature began.

"You _were?_"

"Sure was. Mother Gaia was the first Mother Nature. Back when she was around, I was just Tara, her protégé. Then I became Mother Nature."

"So do you have a Legate?"

"Spring, of course."

"Spring? Like the season?"

"My Aunt Spring," Jack, who had been quiet, volunteered.

"Your _Aunt_—you have an _Aunt_?"

"Three actually. Aunt Spring, Summer and Autumn."

"So there's more figures? Than just us?"

Nearly every councilmember nodded.

"We thought you knew that," Sandy said, awake and alert.

"I didn't…"

"Santa, there's a whole city filled with legends like us. Crystal Springs. We are not alone."

"There's sprites, gnomes, faeries, leprechauns—"

"Eugh, the leprechauns…" Easter Bunny murmured.

"And they all live there. We all live there."

"Woah." Santa sat back, taking it all in.

"Oh, Scott, wouldn't it be nice to visit there one day? I bet Crystal Springs is beautiful," Carol said.

"Ooh you should definitely come down one day! I'd love to have you at the garden—"

"Can we get back on topic, please?" Santa said, getting everyone's attention once more. "So basically, Jack has a Legate. A Legate who's got the same powers as he does?"

"Precisely," Father Time said.

"And his Legate can fix the polar caps?"

"It doesn't really work like that," Jack said, cautiously.

"She could very well repair them—albeit, temporarily," Sandy said, "She doesn't have enough practise to permanently sustain them."

"But that's better than nothing," Santa pointed out. "Let's do it."

"No!" Jack said, to stunned looks everywhere. "I can't. I can't face her."

"Jack… who exactly is your Legate?"

"My sister, Jacqueline. But she'd never forgive me."

"You won't know unless you try. At this point it is the only option available to us. So, I decree that we enact the Legate Law. Legendary Figure Jacqueline Frost will take over for Jack, until we find a solution to this power shortage. Perhaps she may even have an answer. All in favour?"

Reluctantly, Jack nodded; Santa raised his hand, smiling. Easter Bunny and Tooth followed fast, Cupid whacking Sandy (who had fallen asleep once more) on the head with his bow.

"What, what, what?"

"We're enacting the Legate Law on Jack."

"Oh Jacqueline… okay…" Sandy's hand went up, Cupid, after a sassy eye roll, following suite.

With a nod from Father Time, Mother Nature slammed the gavel.

"Motion carried."

Jack had already gone.

* * *

**A/N-Hola! I Almost forgot to upload this because today does not feel like a Monday, grah...**

**So here we have it, the Council Meeting. I've made it to Chapter 6, and have just begun Chapter 7. If I get to Chapter 10 by Monday next week, I shall most definitely update again. Hopefully!**

**I hope it's clear that Jack left after he voted. He gets very feelsy and angsty in the next three ish? Chapters ;)**

**As per usual, drop a line my lovely readers! Especially if you're still reading The Santa Clause stories, this fandom is very seasonal. Once November rolls around, we pop out of the snow, like daisies! (four for you if you caught both references).**

**And another 4 for you if you catch the subtle mention of another story in this chappie ;)**

**Reviews are loved, quite a bit!**

**(Speaking of which, one of you lovely reviewers had your PMs turned off! I couldn' reply to your review, but I wanted to tell you that YOU ARE THE SWEETEST, what a lovely review. You're all sweet, tbh :3)**

**DISCLAIMER**

******I do not own _the Santa Clause,_ nor do I own Santa Claus, Jack Frost, Bernard, Mother Nature, Baby Claus, Carol/Mrs Claus, or any other Legendary Figure slash character as portrayed in _The Santa Clause _universe. I am making no profit off of any of these stories, they are merely for my amusement as well as yours, as the reader. _ I do_, however, own the concept of the Deliquesce in this context, as well as the aforementioned Jacqueline Frost and the concept of the Legate Law. Please do not use without permission.**


	4. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

"Why is Jack so reluctant to see his sister?" Santa said. The others had left him with Mother Nature, who was calmly explaining things to him. He couldn't _believe_ Jack had a sister!

"Actually, wait, backtrack here. Jack has a sister? He has a _family_?!"

Mother Nature nodded. "He has a wonderful family. The Frost's. Blaise, his father, is a heat sprite. The Frosts are royalty on his side. His mother is Winter, my youngest daughter."

"Winter? As in, the season? _You have kids_?"

"Adoptive, you could say. Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. They are a lovely bunch, though there is _quite_ a bit of quarreling. Even after they've left the nest!"

"There's so much I don't know," Santa murmured.

"And that's why we brought an expert for you," Bernard said, walking into the room.

"Santa, there's somebody I'd like you to meet. Officially." He stepped to the side, revealing his companion.

She was a girl who appeared to be around seventeen or eighteen mortal years. Her hair was frozen into curls, pinned back a bit behind slightly pointed ears, framing her warm face. Bright blue eyes stared at Santa, a rosy bush on her cheeks. A clingy floor-length dress made of deep blue ice hugged her body, the bodice a lighter blue, similar to icicles. The sleeves had poofed up on her shoulder, then draped down into a lovely wide sleeve. She looked _slightly_ similar to Jack.

"Jacqueline Frost, I presume?"

Her cool exterior dropped, and she smiled brightly. "The one and only," she said, curtsying.

"It's really cool to meet you in person, Santa. I promise I'm usually on the nice list. _Usually_…"

Carol giggled in her corner, Santa smiling. He got up from his desk, gesturing to the chair in front of him.

Walking around, she took in the lovely area, bright red sofas and wide windows, shinning in the room. The fire crackled merrily, the scent of cinnamon and cookies in the air.

"Jacqueline, sweetheart, sit down. You can look around later; we have important business to attend to."

Smiling, Jacqueline gave Mother Nature a quick hug, sitting down in the chair indicated by Santa.

Crossing her legs confidently, she leaned forward, looking at Santa.

"So I hear you're new to this whole shebang," she murmured.

"This whole Legate thing, yeah. Crystal Springs, other legendary figures… what a bombshell."

"I can help you there," she said, playing with a little race car on Santa's desk. "Where to begin is the question?"

"Well," Mother Nature volunteered, "the first order of business would be to inform you on what the council delegated."

"Jack's powers have shorted out," Santa said.

"The polar ice caps are at risk of melting," Bernard added, "The Deliquesce could very well happen."

"So, to temporarily save Christmas, we are enacting the Legate Law."

"Okay. We'll start there. Santa, I am a Legate. Legates are second in command to Legendary figures, and we are required to step in or take over if anything bad were to happen. We have the same powers, similar names, look identical, all in case of exposure—so mortals aren't confused as easily."

"And you're his sister."

Jacqueline nodded.

"I thought you were just one of Mother Nature's sprites or faeries or…"

"Technically I am. Except that she's kinda my grandma…"

Santa's jaw dropped at the bluntness of the statement. He couldn't imagine Mother Nature, who looked so young and _not_ grandma-like, being a grandma!

"Then there's our mom, Winter, and dad, Blaise, who could be a king but isn't. There's also the Twins…"

"There's more of you?"

Jacqueline rolled her eyes. "The Twins are heat sprites, Santa. It's just me and Jack and mom who're all wintery. We're known as Cyrokinetic Sprites. Or Winter Sprites, since we do the snow thing too, not just ice."

"How come he's never mentioned you before? Any of his family?"

Jacqueline saddened, hugging her torso. "The Day of Darkness."

"What?"

"The Day of Darkness. A long, long time ago, in Crystal Springs. Jack got into a fight with Blaise. They fought, he hurt Blaise and Winter. And then…" Mother Nature hesitated, looking at Jacqueline.

"I chased him outside. I was only maybe three or four hundred. I didn't know why he as leaving. He was my big brother, my teacher… he… icicles… It was _bad._"

"Then he ravaged Crystal Springs and caused a storm that lasted for days."

Santa was in shock. "I didn't think he was that evil back then…"

"He was terrifying. And he hurt us all. Emotionally, physically, spiritually. It was rough. We all only fixed ourselves up recently," Jacqueline said. She collected herself, before continuing. "Legates share a link, a very special link. We can go into each other's minds, we feel what our other half feels… and we can block it out. Which Jack did, most of the time. I know he has been thawed. I felt it that day. And I can tell you what he's feeling."

She looked at the people in the room, collecting her words, so to speak.

"Jack is afraid. He left us for centuries, not even so much as a visit. He hurt us, and now he _knows_ and is aware of it, whereas before, the evil kinda blocked it out."

"How do you know that he feels that way?" Carol asked, very intrigued.

"Because it's how I'm feeling right now."

She gulped, staring at the caring faces around her.

"I… I don't know how to feel about seeing him again, so soon. I was so angry… and knowing about that alternate timeline, when he was Santa, makes me even angrier. I hope I can put it aside… but I don't know if I can."

"Awwh, sweetheart," Carol murmured, pulling up a chair beside her. She felt such a motherly instinct towards this sprite of hundreds of years. Jacqueline smiled, appreciating the gesture.

"At the same time," she murmured, "I'm happy. I haven't seen him in so long, and he was my mentor, the only other person ever who could understand what was going on with me. He made me laugh, he had fun with me… I don't really know what to feel. Part of me wants to punch him, but part of me wants to hug him."

"Oh, I know how that feels."

"I also kinda wanna throw up…"

"Oh, honey, let me tell you a story about the day I married Santa…"

"I'll let you two ladies take care of Jacquie here, then. You don't mind the nickname, do you?"

Jacqueline shook her head. "My friends call me that, it's cool with me."

"Excellent!"

Santa got up, determined.

"Scott, where are you going?"

"To find Jack," he said, leaving his office, "I'm gonna talk to him, then you can see him, Jacquie."

She nodded. It was now or never…

* * *

Jack had wandered outside, in one of the quieter, secluded corners.

For a while he was alone, until he heard the flip flop of footsteps behind him. Santa joined him, leaning against the railing. He watched the elves walk by, laughing and chattering, waving hi, their sparkling cheeks rosy and merriment on their faces.

"I couldn't possibly see all this destroyed, Santa."

"I know. I understand that now. You know, Jack, you could've told me sooner."

"I know, I know. It's just…"

"Just what?"

"I couldn't admit that I was powerless. _Literally_. It's rotten."

"Oh, so it was a pride thing," Santa murmured, finally understanding.

Jack nodded, rubbing his fingers back and forth on the railing. "I have a reputation, you know. I'm Jack Frost, charmingly gorgeous rogue who freezes anything and everything, bringing snow everywhere! Well, I'm supposed to be. But I haven't even been able to make a measly snowball, Santa, nothing! It's terrible being powerless."

He sighed, angrily turning away. Santa followed him, hands in his pockets. Jack slowed his pace down, matching Santa's. It was silent for a bit as they walked through the streets, the elves waving and asking how the two legendary figures were.

"Santa, you're a family man."

"I guess you could say that…"

"No, you are. You have a lovely wife and baby boy, then there's Charlie and Lucy and Neil and Laura. You all get along and, and _everything_."

Santa shrugged, "They're my family."

"I have a family."

"Why don't you talk about them?"

"Because I haven't seen them in some fourteen hundred odd years."

Santa let out a low whistle.

"I left them, Santa. I abandoned them. I was blinded and careless and I hurt them. My mom's probably encased herself in ice… my father's probably seething. He was right about me the whole time, you know."

"Right about what?"

"He had a brother… and his brother was devilishly evil. He kept seeing signs of that in me, as I grew up."

"You don't say?" Santa said, kind of sarcastically. Jack was over boiling with self-confidence and cockiness, typical villainous traits.

"Well Santa, I don't mean to brag but I'm quite the guy. Charming, seductive, confident; with ENORMUS POWER in my own right! Well, usually," he murmured.

Santa laughed quietly, rolling his eyes. Typical Jack, so full of himself.

"And then there's my sister."

"The Legate."

"Yes, Jacqueline. She's already here, too."

"How do you know?" Santa asked, bewildered—she had just stepped into his office no more than ten minutes ago.

"She and I have a connection. When we want to, that is. I can sense her," he mumbled.

"Tell me more about her," Santa said, as they stopped at the corner, waiting for the polar bear to signal them to cross.

"She was-is my little sister. Adorable little imp," Jack began, smiling. The polar bear let them cross, and the two men continued walking.

"I taught her everything I could, you know. It was so much fun, having the attention, being a young adult and playing with her, throwing her in the snow, chasing each other with little abominable snowmen."

"Well that doesn't sound too bad! You sound like the both of you were close, I'm sure it'll be like that again—"

"It won't be. She'd never forgive me. Not since the Day of Darkness."

"The Day of Darkness, ya know, everyone keeps telling me about it but nobody has explained it to me. Well, fully explained it."

"Who told you what?"

"A… _guest_ in my office told me a bit about it. You left that day, hurting your family, and caused a really bad storm in Crystal Springs."

Jack laughed, darkly. "That's the kid version of it," he mumbled.

It was quiet as they left the busy parts of the village, the warm air rustling around them, entering the more secluded, semi-melted forest.

"It was bad, Santa. I was bad. My dad, he confronted me that night. I was messing around with nature, and he had had it. It wasn't right, he said. Your uncle did things like this too and he was diabolical, started a war that lasted centuries, revealed us to mortals... You know, that sort of thing."

"I bet frozen Jack didn't like that."

"Not at all," Jack continued. "I yelled back at him, telling him that that had nothing to do with me, accusing him of not trusting me or… loving me, I guess. Mom was in tears in the corner, telling us to stop. But both of us are too stubborn to give up a fight. I told him how unfair it was that Santa got this big holiday when it should be _my_ time to shine, my time to be known everywhere, why he got more recognition then I did."

Santa took all this in, trying to put himself in Jack's shoes—though it wasn't exactly successful.

"I… I try not to remember it. I was so angry, and it escalated, I lashed out at him… with icicles. And I missed and hit my mom."

"Ooh," Santa said, flinching. "Daddy probably didn't like that."

"Oh, he was shocked. I was throwing them everywhere, and he had to fight back. A lot of burns, that's for sure. I ended up…" Jack paused, finding it hard to keep going.

"Jack, if you can't keep talking—"

"No, I started, and I need to tell someone, Santa. I can't stop now."

"Okay," Santa said, putting his hands up in surrender, "I'm listening. You ended up…"

"I ended up pinning him to the wall, icicles all around him. He had cuts all over his face, his suit was torn… I was probably just as bad, mind you, my suit burnt up in places, icicles in my hands, exposed skin all red and yucky…"

Breathing in Jack continued. This next part was hard.

"I left the kitchen, then. Past the staircase to the door. I was going to leave, for good, and find a way to be known by all."

Santa could see where this was going. "Your sister…"

"She came down the stairs… and I can never forget this part, it…"

He shivered, the memory forcing its way to the forefront of his mind, replaying in all its dark and malicious glory.

_The kitchen was nearly destroyed, his dad was pinned down, his mom was on the floor, holding her scratched sides; Jack left, angrily. How dare they tell him to stop trying to reclaim his spotlight, how _dare_ they!_

_He marched out of the kitchen, to the hallway, shooting icicles at his dad's office door, out of spite._

_"Take that, old man," he mumbled, unintentionally freezing everything around him as he went._

_That's when he heard the little pitter patter of feet coming down the staircase._

_"JackJackJackJack it's loud down here, what's going on, Jack… Jack?"_

_She had come to the base of the stairs, in her white snowflake patterned long sleeve shirt and pajama pants, her hair thawed and tied in poufy braids. She stopped, almost falling, and looked up at him._

_"Jack? Are you okay?"_

_He growled, and kept going towards the door. He was so close…_

_But Jacqueline, fearful for her big brother, followed._

_"Jack why are you leaving? I was gonna ask you if you could sneak outside with me and build a snowman!"_

_"No, Jacqueline," he said loudly, startling the girl who stopped, sliding barefoot on the marble floor._

_"Jack where are you going?"_

_He ignored her, going to the door._

_"Are you leaving?"_

_"Yes, I am."_

_"Are you coming back?"_

_"No, I'm not!"_

_She stopped, scared. _

_"You're leaving forever?"_

_"Jacqueline, come here, please!" Winter called out, weakly._

_"Don't follow him Jacqueline!" Blaise shouted, sharply._

_"Jack? What's wrong with mommy and daddy?"_

_"Nothing. They're fine, unfortunately," he had mumbled the last bit under his breath._

_"Please don't go, Jack, I'm scared!"_

_Ignoring her, he left, opening the door. He could feel the wind speed up with his command, the snow start to fall, then pick up, and a blizzard quickly forming. Dark clouds appeared outside, turning the sky black. He screamed, a rage filled shriek, the storm intensifying._

_Jacqueline ran out behind him shortly after, looking at the sky, the billowing snow, tears on her face._

_"No Jack don't go! Mommy and Daddy are hurt! Please Jack, go fix them!"_

_"Jacqueline, get lost! I'm leaving. I need to leave, so I can take back winter. You wouldn't understand."_

_"Jack, this is bad! You're being a bad boy you're gonna be on the naughty list, Jack!"_

_"I don't care about a stupid list. That Santa Claus, he's taking over my season!"_

_"Jack, please! Don't leave me!" She had chased him down the pathway, the winds breaking the rose bushes, the thorns flying, scratching the small just about four hundred year old girl in the face. She was crying._

_"You're my only friend, who's gonna play with me and teach me?" _

_They had reached the wrought iron gates, which sprang open with a powerful blast of cold wind. _

_"Jacqueline!" a scream came. Blaise was chasing Winter, who held her sides, trying to see through the storm. They were far away from the gates, but they could see the outline of the two siblings._

_The scream was faint for Jack and Jacqueline, however. Angrily, Jack had turned to Jacqueline._

_"Not me, Jacqueline. Not anymore. Now go away!" he had said, angrily, and the icicles shot out of his hands, their sharp glistening tips flying right to the little girl, whose wide blue eyes opened in fear, and she screamed as the icicles went right through her little torso._

_The snow started turning red. There was so much blood…_

"She chased me outside. And I hurt her. I… hit her with icicles. They… went r-right t-t-th-hrough her torso _there was so much blood Santa oh gods_," far away from society now, Jack let the tears roll down his face, and crumpled in the snow, crying.

_Definitely_ something he wanted to do in front of Santa.

Santa, confused and shocked, stared at the pitiful figure in the snow—surprised that there still was some snow. Despite how bad it was, what he had done, physically hurting his family like that, Santa could see that this was no act. This was true, honest to God remorse and self-pity. Santa knelt in the snow, rubbing Jack's back.

"It's okay, Jack, it's fine."

"No it's not, Santa!"

"Well yeah, obviously, but I'm trying to reassure you…"

"Well you're doing an _awful_ job."

"Would you can it Jack? Let me try at least. Now quiet, let me think…"

Jack sat in the snow, head between his legs. Santa sat beside him, his legs spread out and a hand stroking his beard in thought. How could he console his friend?

"It didn't end there, you know," Jack mumbled. "It went on for days. I had caused a terrifying ice storm, with billowing, cold, and cutting winds. It tore up a lot of Crystal Springs, froze everything solid. I nearly destroyed the town."

"Well, Jack… gingerbread burns sometimes," he said, beginning slowly, testing his words. How to reassure this frosty sprite?

"Yeah, and…?"

"People make mistakes."

"People don't usually go out and stab their sisters and nearly destroy a whole town with their magical powers."

Santa looked at Jack. He was making this really hard.

"I just… I just wish that I could go back, and make amends with my family. Make sure the Day of Darkness never happened…"

"Well you can't. But what you can do is start making up for it, Jack. Back at the pole, in my office, is a young… is she young? Well to you she is, I guess… anyways, back in my office is a young girl, sitting with Carol, anxious and scared. A young girl who has lacked a brother for hundreds of years. She's just as scared, too Jack. You may not be able to go back in time, but you sure can start to make amends, now."

He paused, watching Jack's face. A tear or two escaped his eyes, and he breathed in. _Good job, Scott, it isn't all a load of tinsel,_ Santa thought, congratulating himself.

"You're a changed man, Jack. You proved it to me. I see you as family now, too, Jack, and if I can see that you've changed, then your family sure can, too. And it all starts with Jacqueline. She's waiting for you, Jack."

He nodded.

It was now or never.

* * *

**A/N: Happy Crystal Springs Monday! I didn't even realize this was going to be the chapter posted today. I'm still on chapter Seven, and it's half a filler, so my mind was very far away from the Day of Darkness. Here you all go! The Day of Darkness in all it's gruesome, angsty, HOW COULD YOU SAFYRESKY HOW COULD YOU POOR JACQUIE AND WINTER AND BLAISE AND AH I CAN'T EVEN! glory! :D**

**I may or may not update next week; it's reading week so I'll have more time, but my finger is kinda weird right now and I have half my midterms plus an essay this week, and the other half after next week. I'm not sure if I'll have time to finish Chapter Seven and Chapter Eight, which is what I'd like to do because I think Chapter 9/10 is when the Frosts at the Pole go home to Crystal Springs and I get to unleash Winter, Blaise, Fino and Fiera on Jack. **

**Up next (possibly): the siblings meet and chaos ensues ;D**

**Reviews are loved! Feel free to angrily rant in the review about how this chapter made you feel because wow it is dark and sob fest and feelsy man I'd be angrily ranting in capps in the review section, too!**

* * *

**DISCLAIMER:**

**********I do not own _the Santa Clause,_ nor do I own Santa Claus, Jack Frost, Bernard, Mother Nature, or any other Legendary Figure slash character as portrayed in _The Santa Clause _universe. I am making no profit off of any of these stories, they are merely for my amusement as well as yours, as the reader. _I do_, however, own the concept of the Deliquesce in this context, as well as the aforementioned Jacqueline, Winter and Blaise Frost _and_ the concept of the Legate Law. Please do not use without permission.**


	5. Chapter Four

** Chapter Four**

Jacqueline sat apprehensively, listening to Mother Nature's briefing on the warming conditions of the North Pole.

She was still quite nervous to see her brother. Thankfully, though, before scooping up a cranky Buddy and whisking him away for nap time, Mrs. Claus had eased her worries. Well, maybe. Hopefully. Jacqueline didn't know if she could keep her emotions at bay, because the thought of seeing Jack again made her think of all the trouble caused by his departure and the anger and resentment and sadness and questions and—

_Focus, Jacqueline!_

She shook her head, repeating over and over in her not to feel, to be calm.

"So Jack's magic actually keeps the North Pole secluded and safe?"

"It also keeps the magic within the Pole. Now, with his powers shorting out, the ice is melting; we don't know how long it will be before it melts completely."

"The Deliquesce…" Jacqueline said.

"Precisely," Mother Nature said. "Jack's magic keeps them sturdy and cold. Your mother was able to do it, too," Mother Nature said.

"Then why couldn't she—?"

"Well, firstly, Winter isn't Jack's Legate. Secondly, she passed that magic down to him; she couldn't save these specific ice walls even if she tried to."

"So how do you know I can keep them up, until we sort out Jack's power failure?"

"Because, Jacqueline, I know _you._ You can do it. However, it is only a temporary fix. Your magic isn't yet that strong enough to keep it laced together."

"But how am I gonna do it? I don't know how Jack does it, I don't know…"

"It's okay. I'll teach you."

The two timeless women turned around, not noticing Jack and Santa entering earlier. Jacqueline gasped.

"Jack," she said, breathlessly.

"Hi, Jacqueline…"

He had… changed, Jacqueline noted. Not much, but it was there. His features looked a little more weathered, much more similar to her dad than she'd care to admit. What she would admit was how _weird_ he looked totally defrosted. His hair was brown and mussed, like he had tried to get his spikes back but failed miserably. His suit was white, practically blinding; Jacqueline saw a faint, warm blush on his cheeks. Like she had always had.

Jack was having a slightly similar thought process. Well, _slightly. _Jacqueline had changed, _a lot_. She was a full grown sprite now—or just about. He figured she had to be around seventeen or eighteen hundred, by now. She was of an average height, her hair long down her back, frozen into curls. She looked all done up, too, in her long, fancy illusion neckline dress and _puff sleeves_ over long, wide sleeves. It was radically different from what she wore as a kid. _Is she at a Legendary stat already?_ He wondered. _And when did she learn to dress so sharply?_ Her face still had some of the baby roundness, though it was barely there.

In the long run, she had grown up.

And Jack had missed it.

"Are they okay?" Santa wondered, whispering to Mother Nature. The two sprites were staring at each other, eyes rapidly moving up and down. Both of them looked shocked.

"Santa, they haven't seen each other for nearly fifteen hundred years. Jack may not have changed, but Jacqueline most definitely has."

"This is so weird to watch…"

Mother Nature turned to him, raising an eyebrow.

"Alright, sorry, I'll hush…"

"Hmm, you're right though. This _is_ awkward…"

The Cyrokinetic spirits still hadn't moved. Mother Nature decided to intervene.

"Shall we get to work, children?" she said.

Jacqueline shook her head first, snapping out of her trance. "Yes. Work, that's right. The polar ice caps."

"Children?!" Jack mumbled, taken a back.

"We are children to her," Jacqueline mumbled icily. _Focus. Be calm. No anger._

Smiling, Mother Nature gestured to the seats.

"I best take my leave, shortly, so I'll be brief. Jack, you know how the ice cap magic works. Jacqueline doesn't. Help each other out, alright?"

They nodded, Mother Nature smiling.

"Good. Santa, I trust you'll be okay with these two?"

He nodded. "Yeah, of course."

"Perfect! If any of you three need anything, just shout for me, okay? And Santa, thank you, on behalf of the council, for hosting us tonight. Until next time," she said, waving and disappearing with a bright flash of light.

"I hate when she does that," Jack murmured.

"Ugh, I know, could it be anymore bright and blinding?" Jacqueline replied.

Jack smiled at her—she returned it, very fast, then looked away.

"Well I'm going to go check on Carol, you know your way up to the ice cap, Jack. Take care you two. Jacqueline, pleasure to meet you!"

"Likewise, Santa," she replied, curtsying.

"We'll get a room made up for you straight away."

And with that, Santa smiled and left.

"After you," Jack said, gesturing to the door.

"_You_ know the way up. I'm following you."

And with that, the two left for the ice cap.

* * *

This was the most cumbersome walk Jack had ever experienced in his life.

Jacqueline was silent, and stiff; she hadn't said anything to him since they left. She walked beside him, a little bit away, though. He couldn't feel her mind out; she was blocking him out, on purpose. He squinted, noticing her lips mouthing a series of words very, _very_ fast.

_Don't feel. Block him out. Don't be angry. Be calm. You got this Jacquie,_ she mumbled to herself.

Not one to handle an awkward silence, Jack cleared his throat. He opened his mouth, trying to think of something to say; but everything he thought of sounded wrong.

"So how about the weather?" he said, frowning. _That wasn't a good opener at all, Jack._

"It's _warm_." Jacqueline said, looking at him funny.

"Oh, yes, that's right," he murmured.

Jacqueline shot him an icy glare, turning around, and repeating her mantra. _Block him out. Don't be angry, keep calm and carry on, you got this Jacquie. You got this…_

"Whose fault is that, though?"

The silence returned, and Jack had to admit to himself that he had _absolutely no idea_ how to talk to his sister—that was a sassy come back, albeit true. She wasn't the little playful girl anymore.

"You've grown so much, you know."

Jacqueline clenched her teeth. "You don't say? I mean, it's not like I was going to stay a four hundred year old for fourteen centuries."

Jack shrugged, nonchalantly. "Never really could picture you all grown up, anyway."

Jacqueline raised an eyebrow. "You could've easily pictured it if you hadn't—oh, never mind, we're here." _Keep calm, Jacquie, keep __**calm.**_

They had reached the outskirts of Elfsburg, where the thick, crystal blue ice walls would be in front of them, stretching on in a nearly endless dome. Only problem was, it was slushy all around them. The sound of rushing water could be heard from a distance, the bottoms of Jacqueline's skirt and Jack's pants getting drenched.

"Yuck, my dress is getting _soaked_…"

"Oh, dear, we can't have that," Jack said, sarcastically—he couldn't resist, she was being _such a girl._

"Oh really? Well at least I'm not wearing white," she murmured, pointing at Jack's browning pant bottoms, smirking right back at him.

"Well you know what, I think we should try to… fix… this…"

Jack turned around in his slush pile, looking at the walls. They were definitely thinner, and less shiny. He could feel the magic slipping out through the walls, very slowly, but it was there and it was happening.

"Okay…how do we fix this then?" Jacqueline said, hitching up her skirt and looking around.

"Ah, yes, let me teach you. It's a special skill, called ice whispering."

"Ice whispering?"

"It's—it's a very advanced technique, of course. Look, watch, and then follow my lead."

Smirking, Jack trudged through the slush, placing his hands on the icy wall. It was wet and cold—not a pleasant feeling. He reached out to the ice—and got nothing.

"Ooh, having trouble there?" Jacqueline smirked, her hands placed on the ice.

"No, I'm just—alright, fine, _yes_ I'm having trouble. I forgot…" _forgot how useless I was and how mortal I feel and how unfair it is that you're already catching on…_

Suddenly, a loud cracking sound echoed around them. Startled they both looked up, a piece of ice falling down right between them.

"Okay, this is really, _really bad,"_ Jacqueline said.

"No kidding," Jack murmured, in shock.

"How can I temporarily fix this?"

"You just put your hands on the ice, and feel it out. You'll know what it's saying, the ice tells you. Well, these walls do."

"Feel it out? So like, find all the crack and crevices and just…freeze them?"

"The ice will tell you how. Chop, chop, we haven't all day," Jack said, looking for a safe spot to sit. Finding none, he shrugged and crossed his arms, waving his hand back and forth slowly, telling Jacqueline to get moving.

Eyes narrowing at Jack, she glared, before turning to focus on the wall.

_If looks could kill…_ Jack thought. He watched her now, quietly.

She focused on the wall, eyes closed, fingers spread out. A light blue glow surrounded her hands, the icy walls lighting up. She grinned.

"Gotchya," she said, triumphantly. She only just lifted her hands before smacking them right back on the wall. Frosty blue magic shot out of her palms, fingers frosting over, and spread along the ice, the walls thickening. The dome was coated with her icy magic, and glowed brightly, before solidifying. The far off water sounds slowed down, before turning into a slight drip.

Jack could feel the levels of magic leaving dwindling, finally becoming nothing but a slight trickle.

It was solid now, but it wouldn't last. Jacqueline got off the wall, looking at her hands.

"Whoa. That was _sick_…"

"Eh, it was pretty good for a first timer…"

"_Excuse_ me?"

"Well I could've done better myself, you know. I'm a professional."

"Oh… too bad you couldn't if you wanted to, because, ya know, you can't even make an _ice cube _right now."

Jack flinched, watching Jacqueline's retreating form. She was walking fast. Trudging through the slush, he followed her down the hill.

"You really have grown up. A lot."

"We established that, Jack," she murmured, angrily. _Oh no, Jacquie be calm, c'mon, we're almost back, and you can hide in your room…_

"Jacqueline, wait up! I'm not exactly as _young_ as I used to be."

_There goes the cool,_ Jacquie thought, snapping

"You're not as young as you used to be? Oh, _please_!"

She stopped and looked at Jack, square into his eyes.

"You know who else isn't as young as they used to be? Me. Everyone always says, oh hey, you're nearing eighteen hundred? My oh my, what a time to be alive! Glory days you know! Where you go out with friends and have fun, mess around with your talents, stir up some trouble, don't waste those centuries, they say!"

She stomped down the mountain, Jack trying to keep up.

"At least, that's what they would say if they didn't fear me! How do you think I feel Jack, hmm? You're not as young as you used to be? Well flash freeze, lookie here! I'm all grown up. And you missed every moment of it. My big brother, who I looked up to, left me and never came back."

"Jacqueline, I—"

"Oh, don't even try Jack. Fourteen hundred years. Fourteen hundred. I was at home, by myself, with mom sad and hurt; she couldn't even LOOK at me for two hundred years, couldn't _bear _to see me all because I was your backup, your spare tire. I reminded her of you. Nothing I did made her smile, nothing! She was encased in her iced suit of, of despair and sorrow, and who had to deal with that? _Me_."

She breathed, nearing the village square.

"Have you ever, in your life, felt even a _little_ bit of remorse? Ever thought, as you messed around with timelines, frosted up the ecosystem, threw things out of balance, how that affected _us?!_ People in Crystal Springs looked down at me. _Oh look, here comes Jacqueline Frost, poor dear, did you see what her brother did! Oh my, maybe she's the same way! Look at her all frozen and icy! No, children, don't go near her!_" she mocked, angrily stomping into the heart of the village.

Snow had started to fall, slowly, at first; now, though, it was speeding up. The elves around, hard at work, were happy—until it rapidity increased and they saw the snowy sprites appear, Jacqueline frighteningly angry.

Jack, meanwhile, was speechless.

"I was all alone, my whole life. I thought I wasn't good enough, not for anyone, I'd never amount to anything or prove myself to anyone because _you_," she breathed in, angrily grunting, her hands glowing, snowballs appearing in her palms.

"You, LEFT US. LEFT ME." she said, throwing a snowball with each word. By now, the elves were watching, slightly fearfully, backing away a bit as the snow became a blizzard.

"Jacqueline, I thought it was what I had to do! I felt so upstaged and underappreciated—"

"Oh my _god_ you cannot be serious. YOU felt underappreciated? How about me? Or mom or dad? Especially mom and dad! You didn't have to deal with the repercussions of your actions. I did, and let me tell you it _wasn't_ fun. I hid from our parents for _weeks_ afraid they'd blame me since _you _weren't around!"

She was in tears by now, the snowballs getting bigger and bigger. Whacking Jack harder and harder.

"Nothing was ever the same! _Nothing_! Mom finally started to act like a normal immortal being, instead of a robot, five _hundred_ years later! The poor Twins, never knowing why their mother was so sad all the time, why their dad was angry constantly and so fiercely protective!"

She breathed, stopping her barrage of snowballs, rage filled eyes narrowing at Jack.

"Mom refroze herself, Jack. And while you can't _possibly_ understand what that _implies_ since you were frozen all your _life_, let me _tell you _it is not a fun thing at all. She was cold and aloof and sad and it took the twins and I centuries to open her heart a little bit more."

"I don't know if you've noticed but now I understand how it is to be frozen—

"Oh, but that's right! You don't even _know about the twins_ because you cut us all off and never said a word to us!" Jacqueline said, completely cutting him off. Tears were streaming down her face, snow billowing around her, her sleeves and dress bottom thrown back, hair following the pattern.

"Mom and dad, choose to not tell them about you. And how confused do you think they were, wondering why mom was constantly sad, why dad was furious?! Pretty _frostbitten_ confused, let me tell you!"

She stomped towards him, ice forming below her feet. "And all that time I felt unwanted. Neglected. Fear. All because I thought I was doomed to forever live in your evil, shadow. Almost _every_ friend I made always left me when they found out about my other brother! And now, suddenly, you're all _good_ and _unfrozen_ and guess what? I have to help you but of course, you don't even think about how much hurt you caused and what you caused, no, it's all snow forts and snowmen! Let's just talk like it never happened!"

At this point, it was apparent that Jacqueline was rambling. She knew it, too; all her thoughts were jumbled and mixed up and spurting out of her mouth unprecedented and out of order but she couldn't stop, she was so _furious_!

She had to leave. Any longer and the blizzard would destroy the town square.

"It did happen, Jack," she began, her voice cracking, "And you best start remembering that."

And in a shower of blue sparks and snowflakes, she was gone.

* * *

**A/N: I ALMOST FORGOT IT WAS MONDAY, You can all thank etiquette-faux-pas for reminding me when she replied to my PM :P (I'd reply back but FF tells me you've disabled your PM feature! So here, I got the message and would reply but can't xD)**

**So Happy Crystal Springs Monday! I know Monday is a yucky day for a lot of people, so here's to hoping some more frosty angst (and a cameo from another loved OC in the fandom next monday ;D) makes you feel better. I promise the next chapter will be the last of the angst piles! ;)**

**I managed to get up to Chapter 9 last week, between studying and essay writing (let's face it I did it all last minute), so next Monday you shall get Chapter Five! Hopefully by then I'm at Chapter 11! **

**As always, reviews are much appreciated! I absolutely love hearing everyone's thoughts on my OC's, the plot, how in character the canon characters are, and especially how you feel. You, me and Neil can all sit down and have a feelings inventory session.**

**I accept ranting, raving, keysmashes, questions (I will answer them but NON SPOILERY :D) and long reviews that say all the things :)**

**Enjoy your Monday, everyone! And if it's Family Day for you as well, have a lovely day with your famjams! We're seeing the Lego Movie, today, here at my own "Frost Mansion" (except it's not a mansion, sadly. Just a house!)**

* * *

**DISCLAIMER**

**I do not own _The Santa Clause_ or it's sequels, nor do I own Mother Nature, Jack Frost, Santa Claus, Carol, or any other mentioned canon characters. I do, however, own Jacqueline Frost as well as the Frost family; any resemblance they bear to any person/place/or thing is purely coincidental. I also own the concept of Legates and The Deliquesce as it is used in this context. DO NOT USE THEM without permission from me. I am making no profit off of this story; it is merely for the enjoyment of myself and you wonderful readers.**


	6. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

Jack was in shock. He had no idea what to do or say; his mouth hung open as he stared at the spot his angry little sister stood in a moment ago. The blizzard speed up, then toned down, once more turning into a thick snowfall. The elves had all stopped their work, staring at the sprite. Jack barely noticed when Bernard stepped up behind him, having seen the whole exchange.

"Alright, back to work everyone! Nothing to see here! Just family business, not to worry… chop chop, let's get going!"

The elves got back to working, wiping snow off their wagons, clearing walkways—Jacqueline had done a wee bit of damage.

"What was that all about?"

"I don't really know…"

Bernard rolled his eyes. "Boy, do you _ever_ have a way with women."

"Look who's talking! I'll have you know I'm quite the heartbreaker, ladies practically _swoon_ over me—"

"I didn't need to know that. Nor did I particularly _want_ to. What I would like to know is what caused Jacquie to go off the wall like that."

He placed his hand on Jack's elbow, steering him towards the workshop.

"I was stupid. I think. I don't know, I was just being myself and she snapped—"

"Well _there's_ your problem."

"Hey!"

"Whoa, whoa, _whoa_! What happened out here?!"

Santa had intercepted their path, seeing the damage left in the square. Snow was everywhere, things were tipped over—it was a little bit of a mess.

"Where's Jacqueline?"

"She disappeared, sir."

"What? Oh, no, that's not good…"

"It was my fault," Jack said. He was beginning to look awfully troubled.

"We were on our way to find you."

"Good thing I found you instead. I can handle this, Bernard."

Nodding, he left the two Legendary Figures, going towards the kitchen.

"Let's go talk, shall we?"

Jack, silently nodding, followed Santa to his office.

* * *

Nobody noticed the smaller than the norm elf behind the cocoa shop, watching the whole exchange.

What a display of anger that had been. It could be just what his master was looking for.

Sneaking away from the hub, he found a secluded spot and, checking to see if the coast was clear, closed his eyes and disappeared in a flurry of red sparks. Only higher up elves could do that; and while Kasper was a very, very, _very_ low elf, special circumstances had allowed him to do this.

Special circumstances being his master, of course.

He reappeared in a dense, dark forest; it smelt of ash and rotten eggs. He stood outside a dark, small structure. Buried away in the woods, it was built of dirty brown stone and looked to be a small castle.

_I meant to be inside,_ he thought, trying once more to teleport. He was still getting the hang of this.

Finally inside, he walked down the deserted halls, to a large, red door. Breathing in—and promptly coughing—he grabbed the brass knocker, slamming it down.

"Enter." A dark voice rang out, the doors opening for him.

Inside, the windows were covered with thick, red velvet curtains; scorch marks stained the stone ground and the walls. Shelves filled with glowing vials and potions, ingredients and trinkets filled the room. Directly in front of him was a large, boiling pot of what looked like lava—and stunk like it, too. A large chair, shrouded in darkness, was backed towards him. He could hear the rattle of the invisible chains coming from his master's wrists, as he sat in front of the fireplace, staring into the flames.

"S-s-sir," Kasper said, "I think I found what you were looking for."

The chains rattled, his master's shadow moving up.

"_Did_ you?"

"Y-yes, sir. Jacqueline. Jacqueline Frost, she's at the North Pole."

"I am intrigued; go on," he mumbled, turning the corner, chains rattling. Magical chains, they were; invisible, for starters. Hidden somewhere in the stronghold was their base. The chains stretched throughout the palace, but when he went towards the front door, they would pull him back here.

A prisoner in his own castle—but a very scary one at that.

"Jack Frost seems to be having a power shortage, and so the Council enacted the Legate Law, sir."

The man chuckled, darkly. "Oh, this gets better and better. Have the two met yet?"

"Oh, yes sir. And it didn't go well at all, she was furious with him when I saw them come down the mountains. It was a scary, powerful display of anger. Like you said to find."

"Excellent. Very, very, superb. She may be just what I need…"

He walked over to the lava bowl, his face illuminated creepily by the glowing hot light. His red hair was long, his matching beard bushy and scraggily. His red eyes held a glint of malice—if looks could kill, everyone who saw him would be dead.

He waved his hand, and saw the fight happen once more, in his vat of lava. Kasper stood on his tiptoes, glancing into the pot.

"Back _away_, you fool!" a hot blast of air hit his face; he stepped _very _far back. "This stuff is hot, and _not to be trifled with_."

He cackled, watching the fight appear in his pot and replay.

"Such anger…resentment…hurt… such porcelain, winter like beauty…" he sniffed the pot, a small, blue string coming out of the fiery depths. He pinched the string with his thumb and forefinger, twirling it around his other digits.

"Oh, she is brimming with resentment, and anger… hmmm yes, this will do quite well! Well done, Kasper," he chortled, flames erupting from his fingers to cover the blue strand. The flames engulfed it—or so he thought; a piece shimmered brightly, shoving back the fires.

"Uh, sir…" Kasper said, weakly, pointing to the strand.

"Eugh, what is this!" he gripped the string hard. "Hope. Well, that won't do, positively disgusting, _hope_ and _love_."

Angrily, he tossed the string back into the pot, the image of the pale girl, angry and tossing snowballs, shooting up into flames. Kasper shielded his face, while the whole room was briefly illuminated.

"This will be quite a lot of work. Time to get down to business!" he laughed loudly, and evilly, cackling as he went to his shelves and grabbed some vials and ingredients, throwing them into the pot.

Kasper watched, fearfully.

"Soon I'll have my revenge," the evil man murmured, his loud, malicious laughter ringing through the halls. "Soon."

* * *

Jack once more sat in Santa's office, Santa across from him, shoving aside the papers. He poured hot cocoa into two glasses, passing one to Jack.

"Thanks," he mumbled, gripping it hard and staring down into it.

"What happened out there?"

"What didn't happen is more like it," Jack mumbled, sipping the hot liquid.

"We had fixed the cap, temporarily—well, she did. And we were talking and she flipped on me. Santa, I didn't…don't know how to talk to her, and so I teased her a bit, and I may have said a specific phrase that ticked her off. Mind you, it was an awkward walk anyways. The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife…"

"Jack."

"What?"

"You gotta fix this."

"I know," he said, quietly. "I know I do. But I can't sense her or feel anything from her."

"What?"

"We have a connection, it lets us feel what the other is feeling, it's mild telepathy… it's a Legate thing."

"My number two elf has telepathy," Santa murmured.

"Well yes, I know, but this is a _slightly _different kind. Anyway, normally I can sense her, figure out where she is, but not right now. It's silent."

Jack sighed, staring into the hot chocolate, twirling it around with the stir stick.

"Santa, she's so angry. I don't know… how will I ever repair this?"

"Of course she's angry, you abandoned her and the family for fourteen centuries."

"Thanks for the reminder."

"Jack, don't worry. She snapped on you, right?"

"I feel like we should be using a bigger word, something more aggressive and explosive—"

"_That_ bad?"

"Uh-huh. She was saying a lot. How I left and hurt them, how she grew up alone, scared, how she felt unloved and unwanted, and a lot of other words like that. She talked about how furious my dad was, how sad my mother was—she refroze herself, my mom. She choose to freeze her heart, Santa, because of _me_."

Santa grimaced, looking into his cocoa.

"It's a lot Santa. Living in my shadow, being feared when all she wanted was a friend…"

"You were that friend once, weren't you?"

"I was, I guess. We played a lot, I taught her as much as I could." A ghost of a smile graced his face.

"Maybe she still wants that friend. Maybe she still wants you to be that friend. You have a chance, Jack; don't waste it. When she calms down, see if you can get a read on her. I'll get my number two elf to help with that, she and Jacquie are very good friends, maybe she can help you find her."

"I sure hope so," Jack murmured.

That part of his mind, where the glowing blue string was that led to Jacqueline, was quite blank.

And that couldn't possibly be good.

* * *

Jacqueline reappeared by the ruinous remains of Olden Elfsburg. A long, long time ago, an elder race of elves had inhabited this area; however, they had abandoned it—though no one was particularly sure why—and the snow piled over the decaying stones, trees growing around it. It made the perfect hideaway, and the only reason she knew was because of the snooping she had done on Jack over the year. Mind wise, of course.

She followed the snowy path, stopping by a huge tree with an old swing tied to the thickest branch. The snow ebbed down, falling fast but no longer a blizzard. She wiped the snow off the swing, and sat, openly crying.

She could not _believe_ she had gone off like that. But it was all Jack's fault, and his snarky mouth and stupid comments and wow she had missed her big brother.

_Wait, what?_ The wind picked up and then dropped. It was true; though she was angry and hurt she had missed him.

_Jacquie… _

Jacqueline frowned for a moment; she had shut out Jack from her mind… so why was she hearing someone call her in her mind?

_Jacquie, you dummy, open up. It's just me, Elle._

Well this was embarrassing. Jacqueline was in no state of mind to talk to anyone; how did Elle get in?

_Elle I don't really wanna talk right now. How did you get in?_

_You blocked out Jack but not me. Well, kinda. I mean, it was hard to find you but I managed._

_Oh._

_Where are you? Everyone's worried; you might have damaged town square a bit._

_I'm not telling. I don't wanna talk right now. Sorry about the square, though… did I do a lot of damage?_

_Um… no?_

_You hesitated!_

_I don't think you wanna hear the truth right now, it'd just make you feel worse._

Oh great, Jacqueline thought, sighing and hiding her face in her hands. Her cheeks were warm and wet with tears, still falling freely from her face.

_Jack's worried about you._

Jacqueline didn't reply, trying to hide her face more—but that wouldn't stop Elle, not at all.

_C'mon Jacquie, just open up a bit so we at least know where you were. Don't make me go over there!_

Jacqueline snickered, a small smile on her face; and that was all they needed back at the Pole.

* * *

"Looks like she's let her guard down," Jack said.

"For a bit. Better hurry Jack, or you're going to mess up again," Elle said.

Jack had to admit, he was a little wary around Elle. Santa's number two elf and Bernard's belle, she was a force to be reckoned with when you didn't mess around with her mind using magic. Which was hard enough, since she was telepathic. Of course, one of Jacqueline's closest friends _had to be her_. Boy, did Jacquie choose them.

While frozen, Jack may have messed around with Elle a _lot_. The year had been really rough, since she was pretty pissed off at him. But even she had trusted him—albeit barely. It was enough that she didn't attack him on the spot, which was a relief for Jack.

And she was the only other person who could reach out to Jacquie.

"I'll make sure I don't."

"Good. And get her back here safe, she owes me a coffee date."

Elle gave Jack one last _don't mess it up_ stare before leaving the study.

"Oh…" Jack mumbled, briefly feeling Jacqueline's connection and finding her location, before the walls came down again.

"Oh what?!"

"I can't believe I didn't guess she'd be there…"

"Be where?"

"Don't worry Santa, I got this. I'll bring her back and we'll start trying to fix this whole power shortage and melting problem!"

And with that, Jack disappeared from the office.

* * *

**A/N SURPRISE! DOUBLE UPDATE! WHAT?**

**I left you all on Monday with a very feelsy chapter, and while reading through the story I realized that the next chapter was basically filler. so, I thought, why not double update? Voila! I did. Enjoy your filler chapter, children. Monday I shall update with even more feels and then back to our usual schedule!**

**Despite being a filler there's a lot of stuffs in this chapter. I introduced Kasper, as well as my baddie :D Who is he? What does he want? WHAT REVENGE ON WHOM?!**

**THE PLOT THICKENS**

**A big, huge thanks to etiquette-faux-pas; Elle is her lovely OC from ****_The Emissary Clause_****, her fic, and when she asked to borrow Jacqueline for a few chapters, the two OCs friendship became canon for me and suddenly Elle was in ****_Crystal Springs_****! While Elle will be playing a bigger part than I thought, the focus will still be on Jack and Jacqueline, as well as the Frosts come the double digit chapters.**

**And a shout out to WinterFrost15 who mentioned that the song Hey Brother by Avicii was literally the song perfect for Jack and Jacquie, and so I looked it up and IT IS OH MY GOD IT IS HOLY CRAP check out the song! :)**

**And please, if you're reading out of season, do leave a review! Tell me how it was, rant, rave, ask questions, breakout, key smash even! See that little box? Tis yours to pour out your feelings in ;)**

**OH AND BEFORE I FORGET I WANTED TO MAKE A NOTE OF JACK AND JACQUELINE'S CONENCTION**

**Being Legates, the two of them are connected in a special way. They can give access to their mind, thoughts and feelings at will; they can also block the other out (which Jack did while frosted up). They also can talk to each other in their mind and find the other, if they don't block each other out.**

**So that's there if anyone was curious ;)**

* * *

**DISCLAIMER**

**I do not own ****_The Santa Clause_****, nor do I own Jack Frost, Santa Claus, Bernard or any other canon characters used in this chapter. I am merely borrowing them and make no profit off of these stories; it is purely for my amusement and enjoyment as well as the reader's. I do not own Ellington Connolley, aka Elle; she belongs to etiquette-faux-pas and I am merely borrowing her and shall return her unharmed and unscratched.**

**I do, however, own Jacqueline Frost, the Frost Family, Kasper the Elf, as well as the aforementioned evil baddie whose name has not yet been unveiled. I also own the Deliquesce and Legate Concept as mentioned and used in this context. Do not use without my permission and proper credit.**


	7. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six**

Elfsburg and the surrounding area of the North Pole was rather large; there were many nice little inlets to be discovered. Peaceful spots, where all was quiet. Maybe a frozen river, a nice forest-filled area, or some old ruins from old settlements—though it was hard to say whether it was elves that had lived there or some other creature.

Jack had had plenty of time to search for these areas, during the free time he had earned more and more of as he had proved himself throughout the year.

His personal favourite was located in a sparse forest. The trees would thin, and a pathway—which may have once been a road—would appear. The trees here were large, dwarfing the shapes of ruined old houses covered with snow. One of these shapely ruins had a lovely large tree out front. The tree packed the snow tightly onto its thick, large branches, an old, forlorn wooden swing secured tightly to the thickest one.

He had come to this swing often, and sat, watching his snowflakes fall—until they got smaller and smaller and then became practically non-existent. Then he'd sit in the swing and wonder what happened, and perhaps why it was happening to him.

Maybe it was a cruel joke of Mother Nature's or Father Time's.

But when even _they_ didn't know why his powers shorted out, he had to rethink.

And so he sat here and just _thought_, whenever he was feeling particularly emotional.

It's how he should've known Jacqueline would be there. Sure enough, as he found the road and saw the swing, there she sat. Her back was towards him, the icy blue dress vividly standing out against the blanket of white that surrounded them, her curly, frozen hair trailing down her back. The blizzard she had begun had ebbed down into a nice snowfall.

His feet crunched in the snow as he walked behind the swing set, watching his sister slowly sway the tiniest bit back and forth, like a breeze.

It was silent for a while, before both of them began to talk at the same time.

Jack chuckled, "Sorry, I talk too much."

A small smile spread across her face, eyes flicking behind her.

"I… I wanted to apologize. I know that won't make up for fourteen centuries of hurt and loneliness… nothing can ever make up for how much of a bad big brother I turned out to be. And I know words don't mean a thing, it's _actions_ that show but—"

"S'okay, stop it…you're rambling. I'm sorry, too. I knew I was angry. How could I not be? But all that anger, and frustration at myself, at you, at the whole city back at home, just built up and I guess it was only a matter of time before I snapped."

"Well at least you got to take it out on me, you lucky duck!"

A small blast of snow hit him in the face.

"Yuck, you caught me with my mouth open!"

"Oh, stop it! You're _so_ full of yourself," Jacqueline said laughingly, pushing herself on the swing a bit more.

Smiling, Jack ran in front of her small line of flight and began packing snow against the tree, making himself comfortable.

"I'm an amazing person, it's hard not to—" more snow hit his face, "—okay, I'll stop!"

His smile left then, and he thought, pensive for a moment.

"Everything you said, though. It was true, wasn't it?"

"Mom was sad for… a while. Sometimes, she still is. Dad was angry, furious… but he calmed down a few centuries later, and now I think he just misses you. A lot."

"And the twins… who are… we have more siblings?"

"Yes. Fino and Fiera. They're little hot heads. Quite literally."

"They never learnt about me?"

"No. Mom and Dad and Grandma thought it was best to keep it like that. They do know about you now, though. They're curious kids, and explore the house a lot. Came across an old photo album in the library… and came to me asking questions. They wondered for a while why I didn't have a Legate. Guess they never thought that maybe I was one."

The snow fell, slowly, the silence stretching on.

"You're going to blend in with the ground soon, ya know."

Jack looked at his white suit and grimaced. "Don't talk about the suit. I miss the icy blue. I'd trade this for your dress in a heartbeat."

He elicited another giggle, a victorious smile on his face.

"You're not curvy enough to pull off a dress like this, Jack."

The silence fell again, Jack's mind wandering. It wandered to the very edge, where he could see the shimmering blue line that was his connection with his sister, ignoring the severed lighter one beside it.

"Everything you said about yourself, too. Living in my shadow… being feared by the city… feeling neglected, unwanted… I wish I could've—"

"There's not much you could've done."

She could feel his consciousness lurking at the edge of the shimmering strand.

"Do you mind if I—"

"You won't like the feelings."

He let himself tap into her mind; the past, what she felt… was feeling, allowing himself to feel the same way… and immediately regretted it. Pain, both physical and mental. Shame. Sadness. Fear.

A series of images flashed through his head—his mom sad, his father old looking and worn out…a little girl trying so hard to do well, but being shut down by the people around her…the overwhelming need to cry…two younger heat sprites…their intuitive questions…

But most of all, the physical pain in his gut, as if he had been stabbed several times over in several different spots.

The physical feeling of loss, plain and simple.

He pulled away, quickly.

"Told you so," she murmured, fiddling with her hands, face hidden.

"Jacqueline, I'm... oh God, I am so sorry!"

He heard a sniffle, and before he knew it a pair of warm arms were around him, hugging him tightly. She fell to her knees, buried in his shoulder.

Hugs. He hadn't had a hug since Lucy left after Christmas last year.

His sister's hug was different, though. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him, wishing she was that little four hundred year old girl he could pick up and run around with again, throwing her into snow while she pitifully tried to make a snowball as good as his.

He had missed her grow up and now she was a young lady, too big to gather in his arms again, too big to throw her into really far snowbanks… he had lost so much, and now he realized how bad he felt for it, how much he wished he could turn back time and watch her grow and mature and learn how to fully use her powers and meet his twin siblings right when they were born…

"I'm so sorry, my dear, dear sister. So, so sorry."

"It's okay," she sniffled, "I forgive you, my stupid brother."

Their hug seemed to last a while. Both of them didn't want to let go. Jacqueline didn't want to lose her brother again, and Jack had just gotten his sister back… he felt an overwhelming need to protect her at all costs.

Finally, after one last squeeze, he let go of her, and she plopped down in the snow beside him, dusting the ice off her now white dress, wiping at her face.

"I missed you. I was angry. So, so angry, and sad, and hurt. But honestly, I'm just really glad you're back."

"I missed you too, lil' sis. I never thought I'd say this, ever in my life, but I'm happy to be back. Happy to feel all icky and gooey and warm and thawed out and melted inside."

She laughed, sniffing. "It isn't that bad of a feeling you know. Being warm on the inside is the nicest feeling in the world for me. It always has been."

"It's… hard for me, I guess."

"I don't doubt it. You were frozen for so long, that having all the normal good emotions back is going to be rough. But you've handled it well this past year, I think."

"I thought I felt you snooping around…"

She shrugged. "I was curious… I wanted to know if you really had been melted and stuff. I have eyes everywhere," she said, menacingly.

They were silent, for a time; watching the snow fall.

"It wasn't that bad at first. When I was still working, ya know? But now it's harder. I feel _mortal_ without my powers," he said, shivering.

"It's only temporary; it has to be."

They sat in the snow a while longer, the flakes falling slower now, nearly stopping.

"What if it isn't temporary?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well what if… what if I had to be frozen and evil to be powerful?"

Jacqueline thought for a moment. She shook her head.

"Impossible."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well… I'm basically you, right? Well kind of… not really…you know what I mean, right?"

Jack nodded, crossing his arms.

"I've never been frozen in my life, and I have vast power, like you do. Did. I don't need to be frozen to use it, you know?"

"I guess so… but what about Winter?"

"Winter _is_ winter, it wouldn't matter if she was frozen or not."

Jack shrugged. She did make a fair point. He couldn't really compare themselves to the season of Winter, even if she was their mother. For a little while longer, it was silent.

"I'm glad you're safe, Jacqueline."

Jacquie glanced at her brother, wide eyed and flushed. "Oh. Right. Sorry for running out like that, I just…"

"Don't worry. I'm just happy you're okay. _I'm_ safe from the wrath of two angry elves and a worried old guy."

Laughing, Jacqueline followed her brother up, and they headed down the hillside, together, entering the forest.

"For the record, today is all snowballs and snow angels. But tomorrow, we're getting down to business," Jacqueline said, looking up.

Jack followed her gaze. The polar ice cap was strong, but he could see the faint crevices coming back. The dancing lights weren't as bright.

This was getting bad.

"I know. We need to fix this, and _fast_."

"Then let's hope we can find the answer to your problem fast," the younger sprite replied, bunching up her dress in her hand and marching back towards the town.

* * *

**A/N-Happy Crystal Springs Lundi! Here is the last of the Frosty Sibling Angst pile I promised you! Jack finally smartened up.**

**Next week you have a Fluffy chapter and then THE PLOT THICKENS**

**I do hope everyone's day is okay! I just got back from my break and we finally have a house! I'M NOT HOMELESS NEXT YEAR GUYS!**

**Yeah, not too much to say about this chappie... I wrote it wayyy back in December, actually; I've been working on Crystal Springs since just before finishing Meet the Frosts. **

**I'm on Chapter 11, so we're still good for your usual Monday update!**

**I'm almost at 15/20 reviews! Help me get there, guys! Tell me what you liked, didn't like, about cutesy feels anything, really! And thank you for the continued support! :D**

**Short chapter is short but the next one makes up for it in length and character inclusion and power using. Let me tell you it is hard to describe redecorating a room with your icy powers...**

* * *

**DISCLAIMER**

**I do not own _The Santa Clause_ movies, nor do I own Jack Frost. I am not making any profit off of this; it is purely for my enjoyment as well as you, the reader's, enjoyment. I do, however, own Jacqueline Frost; as well as the Legate Law/Concept. Please do not use Jacqueline without my permission! (I'm open to anyone using the Legate Theory, so long as permission is obtained and credit is given where it is due).**


	8. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

The next day, Jacqueline stretched, and rolled out of the plush, red bed. She yawned, running her fingers through her brown hair, leaving behind a trail of frost that curled the strands and froze them in place.

The two sprites had gotten back a bit past dinner and had eaten together, catching up. Then, she was shown her room.

It was _very_ Christmassy.

Warm reds and greens decorated the large room, gold trimmed sideboards tying them off. The window was large, facing the snowy backdrop behind the workshop, covered by thick red and gold curtains. Soft chairs sat by a fire place, a couch as well. Barely noticing yesterday, she had collapsed instantly. But today, the cinnamon smell was overpowering and the décor was definitely more than a little conspicuous.

"I think it's time to redecorate a tad," Jacqueline said out loud, standing up.

Breathing in, she placed her bare foot down, ice swirling out from under her foot, coating the floor. The light blue tendrils laced around the furniture, infused with magic as well; the red and greens changed to light and dark blue, silver trimmings replacing the gold. The magic crawled around the curtains, covering them, turning the fabric dark blue and pulling them away from the frosty window, letting in the light. The shaggy carpet turned from red to blue, the dark floorboards bleached a chilly white.

The bedframe changed into a clear, frosty piece; the chairs and side tables joining the icy furniture theme.

Moving her hand in a swirl, the bases of the tables smoothed themselves out, snaking around the original pedestal elegantly.

Fingers pointing at certain objects, her hand guiding an icy wisp to a piece of furniture, Jacqueline watched as the magic wove into every area of the room, finally settling. Satisfied, she surveyed her work.

"Ugh, still smells like cinnamon," she murmured, her nose crinkling. It was a nice scent, but _very _overpowering in the North Pole.

As she contemplated whether or not slipping away to find some kind of air freshener was a good idea, there was a knock on her door.

"Come in," she beckoned, sitting on one of the icy couches.

"Cocoa is here," Judy said, entering the room.

"Oh, yummy!"

The elf looked around the room, slightly surprised.

"You've done a bit of redecorating," she said, putting the tray beside Jacquie's couch.

"Do you like it? It was just so Christmassy in here, not wintery enough for me at all…"

The elf laughed. "It's very nice. Is that comfortable?" she asked, looking at the supposed solid icy couch.

"Sit in it and see," Jacquie said, helping herself to the cocoa, and winking.

Judy sat down, shocked when she sunk into the sofa.

"How did you do that?"

"It took a lot of practise," she said, drinking the cocoa and dynamically springing into her closet.

Getting up, Judy picked up the tray, making to leave.

"Breakfast is in the kitchen," she said.

"Actually, I heard there was a nice café in the town that has the most delicious pancakes! I'm dragging Jack, too, so don't worry about us," Jacquie said, her voice drifting out of the walk in closet.

Judy giggled. "Good luck getting him up, he sleeps like a log."

Jacquie's head peaked out of the closet, her hands tying up her mane of frozen hair.

"I have my ways."

The elf smiled. "If there's anything else you need, just let me know!"

"Well, I can't really make the duvet and comforters and sheets as fluffy as I'd like. You wouldn't happen to have a white comforter and some nice blue sheets floating around, would you? Oh and a nice warm duvet, too…"

"Blue as well?"

"Yes Please!"

"You got it. I'll have housekeeping up here with your bed stuff later today," she said.

"Thanks!"

Smiling, Judy left the room, closing the thick, now ice door behind her.

Finally dressed, Jacquie swooped out of the closet, skating across her floor and grabbing the door—not before she stopped to admire her craftsmanship.

Think snowflake designs were etched all over the door, swirls twining with the magical icy carvings.

"I _knew_ watching _Frozen_ would pay off in more ways than one," she said, swooping down the hall to Jack's room.

* * *

_Knock, knock-knock-knock, knock, knock._

Groaning, Jack turned over, hiding his head under the blue covers.

"Jaaaackkk wake up! Wake up, wake up, wake _up_!"

Why on earth was she so excited?

"C'mon Jack, we got a ton of stuff to do!"

"Go away," he shouted at the door.

"Not until you get up!"

"At this god-awful hour?"

"It's only eight!"

"Exactly!"

"Don't make me go in there, Jack."

He snorted. The door was locked, how could she possibly get in?

"I'd like to see you try," he mumbled, closing his eyes and snuggling into the pillows.

"You asked for it," she murmured.

It was quiet for a bit. Peaking open one eye, Jack turned around once more… and nearly screamed.

Jacqueline was standing by the head of his bed, arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.

"Do you mind?! Didn't you learn about _privacy?_"

"Privacy is a privilege only given to winter sprites who aren't nearly powerless and haven't left their little sister alone for fourteen centuries," she said, not missing a beat.

"Ouch."

"The truth hurts," she said, jumping on the bed. She landed on her knees, and stared at Jack.

"_What,"_ he bit out, slightly irritated.

"Taco Jack," she replied. Before he had the time to even process the mention of crunchy Mexican food, Jacquie reached over and shoved him, rolling him in his blankets and off the bed. He hit the floor with a loud _thud_.

"Well that was a rude awakening," he said, fighting his way out of the covers. "I think I may have _broken_ something…"

"Oh you precious, fragile creature," she bit back sarcastically. He stared at her, wrapping blankets around his lower half.

"Okay, I'm up and awake and quite possibly bruised; now shoo, I need to get dressed."

Smiling, she hoped off the bed and down the raised portion of the room.

"Today is gonna be intense, so suit up and meet me at the Elfsburg Grille in…ten minutes. I hear they have great pancakes," she said, smiling and leaving the room, cheerily waving.

Grumbling, Jack made his way to the bathroom, bed sheets abandoned just outside it.

Knowing for sure that Jack was up, Jacquie smiled, and gently shut the door, almost running into a gaggle of little elves.

"Shoo, guys, he's _not_ pretty in the morning," she said, winking. Giggling, they ran off in a hurry.

Jacquie grinned, making her way to the exit.

She was really looking forward to those pancakes.

* * *

Town was already a bustle, this early in the morning—though she was sure the elves had been up for much longer. Jacqueline admired their up-at-sunrise work ethic.

The café was close to the workshop, a blue building with small bistro tables outside the display window. _Very_ small tables, in fact. Giggly, Jacquie sat down on the small wooden chair.

She had only been to the pole a few times, mostly to help fix Jack's shenanigans. Every time she was at the Pole when she was off duty, however, she got all giddy and excited. The place was magical, and adorable, and so filled with spirit and cheer…

She frowned. She could feel something different, though… like a slow tap, dripping magic out of the Pole.

She grimaced, looking up.

"What's so interesting up there?" A voice said.

Looking back down, Jacquie noticed an elf, much smaller than the others. He was standing at her table holding a small silver cup, a sheepish smile on his face. He had brown hair and brown eyes, and looked slightly nervous.

"Nothing much, just the ice dome sky…thing…"

The elf smiled. "You're Jacqueline, right? Jack Frost's sister?"

"The one and only," she said, staring at the young elf.

"Perfect! My name's Kasper, I just started working here a few days ago… um, Abby said you liked cocoacinnos and so I made you one special," he spoke very fast, offering her the cup.

_What an interesting little elf,_ she thought, grabbing the cup and sipping.

"Mmm. It's very good," she said. The elf smiled brilliantly, nervously looking down.

"I'm glad you like it," he said, quietly.

"I hear there're good pancakes here," Jacquie began, trying to break the strained silence. The young boy jumped, as if he had just remembered where he was.

"Oh! Yes! Abby makes them really well," he said. "I'll get you some," he finished, running back into the shop.

"Two orders, please!" she shouted back, smiling.

The elf was quite peculiar; she had never seen him around. She made a mental note to ask about him. But it was nice to see someone as nervous as she was—today was going to be a long day.

She sipped the chocolaty beverage again. It was _really_ good.

"I wonder what he put in here," she murmured, shrugging and sipping, waiting for Jack to appear.

* * *

Kasper gulped, putting in the order for fresh pancakes.

Making sure Abby wasn't looking, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a vial.

It was three quarters full, the inside red and green, swirling and glittering. His master had given it to him, instructing him to find whatever beverage Jacqueline was drinking, and pour it in. he had been very explicit about it—this much and only her beverage and no others.

_Did you do the deed,_ a curt voice in his head said, startling him.

_Y-yes, sir. I gave her the potion in her breakfast cocoa. _

_Excellent._ The voice disappeared after that.

Shivering, Kasper grabbed the pancakes and brought them outside.

He hoped this plan worked.

* * *

It was mid-afternoon, typically a break time for majority of the elves. Instead of eating in the kitchens or talking with their friends in other departments, a crowd of them had gathered in the main village square, slowly throughout the day. Something _quite_ interesting had been happening in the large space outside the workshop all morning, different enough to catch their amusement.

"Snowballs!" Jacqueline yelled, standing with her arms crossed and body rigid and straight, a determined look on her face.

Jack sighed, cupping his hands together and searching for the magic inside him. He slowly brought his hands apart and—

"Nothing, still."

"Icicle!"

Bringing his hands together, he slowly pulled them apart as if he were pulling a sword out of its sheath and—

"Nothing!"

"Snowman!"

Twirling his hand as if he were a ribbon dancer, he attempted to make a snowman.

"What kind of snowman is _that?_"

"It's not."

"Ice breath!"

He breathed in, deeply, feeling his face get cold, and breathed out—nothing. Nothing but cold air.

"Your breath seemed colder that time…"

"Jacqueline, c'mon! Don't patronize me, you know what it's supposed to look like!"

This had been going on for three hours, at the most. Perhaps four. Jacquie would shout out a snow or ice related power and Jack would try to do it, and nothing would happen. Nothing but a pathetic, breaking ice piece or a lump of a snowman. The elves had all been watching, intrigued to see someone bossing Jack around and Jack just going with it.

Jack lay down in the snow, groaning over dramatically and covering his eyes with his arm.

"We're getting _nowhere_ with this," Jack said.

"Well, it's a start…"

"How long have we been doing this now?" Jack asked, frowning.

"Three hours!" an elf shouted from the street.

"Thank you little elf man," Jack said, groaning. Again.

"Don't they have jobs to do?" he murmured.

Right on cue, a cheery voice rang out from the steps to the work shop.

"There you all are! I was wondering why the break rooms were so empty! C'mon, it's not going to be as fun to watch now, looks like Mister Frost has just about had it."

Smiling, the elves all dispersed at the warm, polite coax. The two winter sprites turned their attention to the steps.

"Oh no," Jack mumbled, Jacqueline grinning happily.

"Elle!" she shouted, waving.

"Jacquie!"

Elle, Santa's new number two, ran and hugged her icy friend, Jacquie returning it fully and happily.

"You've been in town for a whole day and not once have you said hi to me! I'm _insulted,_" she said.

"Duty called," Jacquie said, winking.

"How is it going?" Elle asked, smirking at Jack's prone, white figure, back down in the snow.

"Great," he said, sarcastically, "just _great…_"

"It must be, since you've been distracting my elves all day. I had to hold back Bernard three times, it took forever to get him to let me deal with the crowd."

"Still stubborn as ever, I guess?" Jacquie said, sitting down beside her brother's head, picking up snow and sprinkling it on his face.

"Don't do that," he mumbled, spitting snow out of his mouth.

"Of course," Elle said, "But nothing I can't deal with."

"He's smitten! He'd do anything for you..." Jack said, still in the snow.

Elle smirked. "I know."

She turned her attention back to Jacquie.

"So when's our coffee date, hmm? You owe me one!"

"I know, I know." Jacquie said, standing up and offering her hand to Jack.

Mumbling a thanks, he got up and stretched, exhausted. He had been drilled all morning and was more than a mite bit peckish. Now would be a great break time... Elle's untimely appearance was perfect.

"Oh, why don't you two friends catch up now, hmm? It _is_ lunch time. Go have some sandwiches, a cookie; perhaps a cocoacinno. Take your time!"

"Oh no you don't," Jacquie began, "we've got to keep…"

She paused, suddenly, completely freezing—no pun intended.

"Jacqueline?" Jack asked, noticing her stop and stand completely still, like a statue.

"Jacquie? You okay there?" Elle asked, concerned.

"Does this normally happen to her?" Jack asked.

Elle, who would've normally glared at Jack, and probably thrown back a sassy retort, shook her head.

"I can't feel her mentally at all!" she replied.

Jack searched desperately for the thread he could take to Jacquie's mind, and found…nothing. It was as if it had completely vanished.

"The link, our link! It's… missing…"

Elle moved closer to Jacqueline.

"Jacquie?"

Looking closely at her friends eyes, she noticed them…flickering. The warm blue was _gone_, and turning…red? Gently putting her hand on Jacquie's shoulder, she gave her a little nudge.

Suddenly, the icy sprite's hand shot up, a blast of wind shooting Elle a good few feet away.

"Elle!" Jack said. He watched her get up, kneeling in the slow—at least she was okay, Bernard would've bit his head off. He turned his attention to his sister.

Jacqueline's eyes were closed; she was breathing heavily. She twitched, her hands going up again. Jack watched as she flicked her wrists, icicles appearing in her palms.

"Get down!" he shouted at the onlookers, diving in the snow—he felt the icicles whiz right over his head.

Rolling over, he saw Jacquie moving towards the center of the square. By now, any elves transporting items knew _they_ had to move. The abandoned carts of bouncy balls, toys, balloons and decorations were scattered in the streets; Jacqueline, with a wave and push of her hand, blew them all over the square.

With little 'huahs' and 'rahs', she shot icicles out of her hands, hitting the windows of the shops, glass sprinkling everywhere. Flicking her wrists some more, she blew away the wooden tables and chairs. They landed on the ground forcefully and broke.

"Jacqueline, what are you doing?!" Jack shouted. Scrambling out of the snow, he chased behind her, trying—and failing—to redirect her snowballs.

Elle scrambled up, stopping an elf running into a workshop.

"Quick, go call Santa, and Bernard. Get a nurse, something's wrong with Jacquie," she said.

"Got it!" the elf said, running into the workshop with renewed purpose.

"Everyone!" Elle shouted over the winds, "Get inside! Quickly!"

Hissing, the winter sprite turned towards Jack.

"Get out of my _way!_" Jacquie's voice was icy; a deep undercurrent to it. She moved her hands back, palms outstretched, shifting her weight.

"Uh-oh," Jack said. He recognized that move.

Smirking, an evil, scary, very un-Jacquie like smirk, she pushed forward, a burst of ice particles and frozen snow spraying from her fingers.

Something was wrong with Jacqueline.

His little sister had gone berserk, and he needed to protect the elves and—

"Jacquie, what are you doing!?"

Elle had caught up, and was right in Jacquie's line of fire.

Jack _needed_ to protect Elle. He needed to protect his sister from herself, too. Willing all the magic he could feel inside him towards his hands, his first and foremost thought protecting everyone, he drew them forward and up, putting them in front of his face. A very thin, flimsy shield of ice followed his trail. He braced himself for the impact, throwing himself in front of the curly haired brunette beside him.

The shield absorbed the brunt of Jacquie's attack; the other three quarters, however, broke through the icy shield and hit Jack. Face stinging, he hissed in pain, lowering his arms and looking at Elle.

"Stay here," he said to Elle, making his way towards his sister.

"Heck no," Elle said, stubbornly following Jack.

"Fine," he growled. "Stay close and try not to get injured, I rather like living and don't want to be killed because you got hurt."

He speed up before Elle could reply, getting closer to Jacqueline; she turned towards them, in front of the Merry-Go-Round. She stretched out her hand, about to throw an attack—but froze, like she had before it started.

Jack stopped, Elle nearly crashing into him.

"Watch it!" she said, moving to see her friend.

Jacquie had stopped, her breathing heavy, then speeding up. Her face fell, the red disappearing and her warm, blue eyes—scared and confused—returning.

"Jacqueline!" Jack shouted, running towards her, Elle close behind.

The young winter sprite collapsed, unconscious, right into Jack's lap.

* * *

**A/N HAVE I EVER TOLD YOU HOW MUCH I ENJOY CLIFF HANGERS**

**Please don't hate me yet! We've finally revealed the biggest plot point-Jacqueline's attack. I can guarantee these'll happen again, mewhahahaha.**

**Happy Monday everyone! I've written a fair bit over the week, and to answer your question bmmr (I hope I put enough m's in there) Jack and Jacqueline head back to Crystal Springs in Chapter 11. I know, it's still quite a while away, but a fair bit of plot has to happen at the North Pole before I can send them back to Crystal Springs. But you'll all really like that chapter when we get there!**

**Anyway, at the rate I'm going I could have the whole story done by next month, quite possibly. And if that were to happen, I'd start updating twice during the week-but for now, since I'm only on the end of Chapter 11, which is about the middle, we'll stick with the usual Monday scene.**

**Borrowing Elle from etiquette-faux-pas has been wonderful! She's a lot of fun to write with Jacquie, and on top of that, combining her work life now as well, it's so much fun! So thank you, Ana, for letting me steal Elle for a bit ;)**

**As usual, any questions, comments, concerns, venting, do tell; that's what the little white box is for down there. I'll answer any questions, too-so long as they're not spoilery! ;)**

**(If you're a guest, though, you have to wait until next Monday for an answer, so have patience! I do reply! :P)**

**And thank, thank, THANK YOU for all the support and kind words and venting and I just love you all, all you reviewers and followers and favers, and I love hearing from you! Please, do drop a line and chat with me! I like being social :3**

**Next week you'll all see what happens with Jacquie and the mess she made bwahaha...**

* * *

**DISCLAIMER**

**I do not own ****_The Santa Clause_**** movies, nor do I own Judy, Abby, or Jack Frost. I am not making any profit off of this; it is purely for my enjoyment as well as you, the reader's, enjoyment. I do, however, own Kasper and Jacqueline Frost; as well as the Legate Law/Concept. Elle belongs to etiquette-faux-pas; I am merely using her character and returning her relatively unharmed. Please do not use Jacqueline without my permission! (I'm open to anyone using the Legate Theory, so long as permission is obtained and credit is given where it is due).**


	9. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight**

"Jacquie! Is she okay?" Elle asked, kneeling in the snow beside Jack, who had caught Jacqueline carefully as she fell.

She lay on his lap, motionless. Her eyes were shut tight, her face unmoving; she was breathing heavily.

"Jacqueline! No, no, no, _no!_"

Elle counted the seconds in her head, as Bernard ran towards them, Santa following in shock.

One second.

"Elle! Are you okay! I swear Jack, if you let anything at all happen to her—"

Two seconds.

"I'm fine," she said shooing Bernard away. Three seconds. "Where's the nurse! Or doctor! Someone who can give Jacquie medical attention!"

Four seconds.

"Coming," Santa said, joining the group. "What on earth happened?"

Five seconds.

Suddenly Jacqueline shot up, breathing in heavily and gasping for air.

"What…why am I on the floor? What happened? Where am I?! How did…"

"Shh, Jacqueline, it's okay," Jack said, gripping her shoulder tightly. She got up, slowly, sitting forwards.

"What do you mean what happened?! You went _berserk_!" Bernard shouted.

"What do you mean I went berserk, I was talking to Elle and now suddenly I'm on the ground, gasping for breath! I don't remember anything aside from that!"

"You should know! Look what you did!"

Getting onto her knees and shoving past Jack, Jacqueline looked at the town square.

It was _chaos. _

Shattered glass was scattered on the ground, the remains of icicles sprinkled amongst the shards. Piles of snow littered the floor unevenly; a box of decorations was flipped over, tinsel spread out everywhere chaotically. Balloons and bouncy balls drifted through the battlefield, elves peeking out from behind walls and doors, surveying the damage.

"Oh my _God._ I did this?!" Jacqueline asked. Her eyes were wide with fear and confusion, her face turning red, as if she were about to cry. She collapsed limply beside her brother, still staring wide eyed at the damage. The little tables she had thought so quaint, were thrown around, broken into pieces.

"Bernard," Elle began, "it's not her fault!"

"How is it not? I _saw_ her do it! She blew you five feet across the square, what if you had gotten hurt?"

"Oh, _please_ Bernard. I love you, but I can take care of myself! A blast of wind isn't going to take me down. Jacquie would _never _hurt me."

"She's right, Bernard," Jack said. "Elle's one of her closest friends. She didn't do it on purpose! One moment Jacqueline was her usual happy chatty self, the next she just _froze_, and it was like she was possessed! Her eyes were all cold—"

"—for tinsel's sake, Bernard, they turned red! I saw with my own eyes!" Elle said, exasperated.

"Her eyes turned _red?!_"

"My eyes turned _red_?"

"Okay, okay. Everyone calm down," Santa said, a nurse elf arriving at the scene.

She knelt beside Jacquie, taking temperature and assessing her vitals, checking her head as well.

"I don't remember what happened," Jacqueline said, desperately, waving off the little elf nurse. She got up, Jack and Elle booth lurching forward to offer help. She shooed them off as well, standing and holding her head.

"Alright. I believe you. Are you sure you're okay?" Bernard asked, watching Jacquie sway a bit before righting herself.

"Yes. No. I don't know. Did I hurt anyone?"

"You hit my face with—" Bernard, Elle, and Santa all glared at Jack, collectively cutting him off.

"Everyone's fine," Jack finished abruptly.

"But this mess is going to set us back by two days, if we're lucky! Maybe more!" Bernard said.

"Nonsense, we can get this cleaned up in no time," Elle began.

"No," Jacquie said, stopping everyone. "I made this mess, even if I don't remember it. I'll clean it."

"Jacquie, should you be using your powers so soon after fainting?" Santa asked.

"She's as stubborn as me, Santa. Don't even bother," Jack murmured.

"I'm very sorry for damaging the town and hurting you all like this," Jacquie began, walking towards the middle of the mess, talking to everyone who had witnessed the attack. "I have no idea what happened. I remember nothing. But I'm not gonna let this ruin the day or set you all behind. Stand back, everyone."

And breathing in, like she did in her room earlier, she lifted the hem of her dress, stomping her booted foot down on the ground. Icy, blue magic curled out from around her foot, stretching around the damaged areas. The shattered glass and icicles swirled together, the magic guiding them back to their original walls, combining them into clear, sheets of ice and locking them in place.

Focusing on the windows, she shoved her hand forward, forcefully. The ice coated the spaces where the window should be, freezing in place. Pointing her finger at the window and jabbing it into the air, the icy points and rigid crevices smoothed themselves out, solidifying and clearing—the windows were good as new.

Twirling her hands, she sent the wind to the broken tables, her icy magic following suit. The tables floated towards her, the clear blue tendrils freezing them over. Another finger jab, and the ice smoothed itself out once more. The tables sparkled, clear as ice with a warm, blue glow and lovely twirling legs. The chairs, swooped up and fixed by her icy touch, matched.

She gently willed the tables down, smiling elves carefully moving them back to their original spots.

"And now," she said, "to take care of the messy transport spills."

She stretched out her hands, the light breeze following, collecting the balloons that floated about and the balls that rolled around the square. Elves, catching on, flipped the empty carts back over, the wind gently depositing the globes back in the respective carts.

The square was shaping up, looking good as new again—with a more wintery touch now. Smiling, Jacqueline walked back to the group of four who had been watching, silently.

"Not so behind anymore, I'll bet," she said.

"All that's left are some of the broken decorations," Bernard murmured.

"If there's any that are still in one piece, we can use the pantograph to churn out some good as new ones," Elle added.

"We should only be behind by an hour, not even."

The two head elves got to work, sending some elves to the pile for tidy up, salvaging the intact ornaments and sending them to Research and Development with some of the Elfgineers.

"There's just one more thing," Jacqueline murmured, looking at Santa and her brother.

"I think you covered everything," Santa said, impressed. Jack nodded, agreeing—he was beyond speechless.

"The snowdrifts I accidently made. I can get rid of those, but I wanted to take a little… creative licence," Jacqueline murmured.

"What do you mean?"

"How do you feel about ice rinks?" Jacquie asked, a sparkle back in her eyes, a smile on her face.

"Go right on ahead," Santa said, smiling.

Grinning, Jacquie once more stomped her foot, sparkling blue magic swirling out from below. She spread out her hands, blasting the sparkling magic around, propelling her as the tendrils laced across the uneven ground, a brilliant ice rink being made.

Twirling, she turned her attention to the edges of the rink, blasting snow from her palms. A small snowy wall began to form around the rink. Surveying her work, she pointed at her shoes, turning them into skates, and glided across the ice.

"I hope this makes up for the damage," she said, skating by the snow stacks and with a touch, spreading a beautiful twirling pattern around them, creating stunning icy Corinthian columns.

"Wow."

She smiled, faintly, skating away from the two Legendary Figures. She was trying hard not to show it, but she felt very tired and her head hurt awfully.

"Was that safe for her to do?" Santa whispered to Jack.

"I have no idea. You go do… whatever it is you do. I'll talk to her and get her to the Elfirmiry."

"Good. I'm going to go and send a few letters. Drag her by force, if you have to."

"Oh, I plan on it," Jack said, watching Santa walk away, determined.

Jack hopped onto the ice, using his normal magic to make himself skates. He glided to where Jacquie was, hiding her head, shielded behind her hair.

"That was a little risky, don't you think?" he said.

"I just… I can't believe I did that. I had to fix it as soon as I could."

They skated in silence for a bit, Jacquie quiet.

_What happened?_ She asked, silently.

_I don't think any of us really knows. _

_I don't remember anything. One moment I was talking to Elle and helping you up, the next I was on the floor, with a bunch of people around me, and gasping for breath._

_You need to go to the Elfirmiry, Jacqueline._

She nodded.

_I have this terrible headache… _

"C'mon, let's get going."

They skated off the rink, where Elves had started to clamber onto, laughing and gliding back and forth.

At least she managed to fix what she destroyed.

Leaning on Jack and holding her head, they slowly made their way to the Elfirmiry.

* * *

Doctor Hismus had come in and looked over Jacqueline. She had hoped that they'd find something wrong with her—but everything appeared to be normal, aside from her massive headache.

She was told that rest would be best for the rest of the day. Jack, who would've been overjoyed at the break, was instead very concerned. He had walked her back to her room and made sure she was in bed, before going back to his room; he kept checking in on her, too; mentally of course. She had stayed in her room the rest of the day, her meals brought to her—Jack was ruthless in his refound older brother duties.

It was very weird. Just three days ago, she had still not heard from her brother, and now, here he was, constantly in her mind and just down the hall.

She sighed.

_Are you okay?!_ It was Jack, of course.

_I'm fine, I just sighed, and that's all. Why do you insist on checking in on me whenever you hear the littlest noise?_

There was a long moment of silence, before she finally got a reply.

_I lost my sister, out of my own selfishness, for fourteen hundred years. I don't want to lose you again, just three days after getting you back._

Jacqueline smiled, nearly crying.

_Thanks_ she whispered, going back to the book she was reading, cuddled up in her duvet on the floor by the fireplace. The coldness helped alleviate the pain a bit. She was surprised the headache had lasted this long though; a whole _day_. It was absurd.

Disrupted from her make belief world for a moment, Jacquie looked up from her book. Someone was knocking on her door.

"Come in!"

"Jacquie!" It was Elle, bursting through the door and marching in the room, a white envelope clutched in her hand.

"Hiya Elle," she murmured from her blanket pile near the fireplace. Elle looked over the couch, seeing her friend huddled under the blanket, a book in her hand.

"I'm surprised you're still in your room, I thought you'd drag Jack back out there again today."

She grumbled. "I would but he has me under room arrest, basically. If I even move or sneeze or sigh, bam! There he is, in my head! Asking if I'm alright!"

Elle laughed, sinking down beside her friend. The winter sprite was curled up in a blue, fuzzy blanket, everything covered, her face peeking out.

"That is so weird to hear. Jack being considerate and whatnot."

Jacquie shrugged, manoeuvering herself to sit upwards while still wrapped in her blanket.

"I talked to Santa," Elle began.

"That's nice."

"He told me Jack got you to go to the Elfirmiry. I don't know how he did it! You say I'm stubborn but ever since coming back here, and knowing you as a winter sprite instead of a teenager with really cold hands and a Disney obsession, I think you may even have _me_ beaten out for stubbornness!"

"Both are still true statements though," Jacqueline said, smiling. She loved Disney dearly, and her normal body temperature was right at zero degrees Celsius.

The two were silent for a minute, staring at the leaping flames.

"Jacquie, what was that yesterday?"

She shrugged, saddening. "I have no idea. I don't remember anything."

"At all?"

"One minute I was talking to you, the next minute I was on the floor, gasping for air. That's all I remember."

"That's what everyone's told us; it's what we've been telling the elves, too. But that doesn't stop the rumours, of course."

"I just… I donno. I'm worried. I guess. But like, it was a onetime thing, right? So maybe it won't happen again!"

"It hasn't happened before, has it?"

"Never in my eighteen hundred years."

"Then maybe it _won't_ happen again. I mean, seriously; what could possibly have caused you to go bonkers like that?"

Jacquie shrugged, the blanket falling to her waist. She was still in her dress; Elle wondered how she did it. Granted, she loved the dresses, but sometimes, tights and a long shirt were nice. Especially when snuggling in a blanket. Cute elf fiancé optional.

"Oh!" Elle said, her train of thought reminding her of the envelope in her hand. "I almost forgot!"

She handed it to Jacquie, who grabbed it, questioningly.

"Mail? For me?"

"Yup. Santa gave it to Bernard and Bernard gave it to me, and told me to give it to you as soon as I could. Which is a relief, since I've been looking for an opportunity to check up on you since yesterday night, anyways. I've been holed up between the decorating department and research and development since yesterday," she said, sighing.

"Sorry," Jacquie murmured, getting up and making her way to one of the glimmering tables.

"No worries," Elle replied, "it's just like every other day."

"Except that I went crazy and destroyed the town square."

"Right, there's… that…"

Bummed out, Jacqueline looked at the envelope. Her name was written in pointy letters, bright orange ink gracing the page. She smiled.

"Who's it from?"

"My dad. So probably the whole family," she murmured, taking out the envelope.

The page started with the same orange pen and pointy writing. Under the small orange paragraph was a crystal blue paragraph, with loopy cursive. Jacqueline's smile grew larger, her eyes sparkling.

_Dear Jacqueline,_

_We miss you quite a bit already at home! How's it going up North? The Pole is a magical place, can't recall when the last time I was there was, but boy do I remember the atmosphere. I'm sure it's changed quite a bit—did you know the workshop molds itself to every Santa? Not including the changes each Santa makes during the duration of his career!_

_Before your mother takes over the letter, as I'm sure she's itching to do, (she won't leave the office, and while I do love her, it is quite odd having her read over my shoulder), I wanted to ask about… your brother. Has he really returned to normal? Why have they enacted the Legate Law? _

_Your Grandmother hasn't stopped by for a long visit as of yet, though she sent a bird to your mother. We're very proud of you, you know… but also very worried. Stay safe, okay?_

_I miss you quite a lot; the twins are a handful, and not as helpful as you, my snow angel. _

_Hope this finds you well and soon, I look forward to an answer—I'm wrapping this up quickly, your mother has her pen—_

_Oh dear she's yanking the paper away send help—_

The ink smeared a bit. Her mom must've really wanted to write her. The writing changed to a loopy cursive, the warm orange ink replaced with a lovely light blue, almost crystal, gel pen.

_Ignore your father, he's being silly, as usual._

_I am not! She's in my chair…_

_He is so and he should stop writing over my shoulder!_

She could almost imagine their playful shoving. The two of them had been much more touchy-touchy in front of the kids since last year. She choose not to picture the kisses she was positive got her dad away from the parchment, and turned her attention back to her mom's portion of the letter.

_Hello Jacqueline darling!_

_It's only been three days and we miss you quite a bit. The house is fairly warm without you around, I feel like I'm going to melt any minute now! How is the North Pole? Are you eating well? Are you comfortable? Did Mother Nature tell you why you were summoned? All she told us was that they had to enact the Legate Law._

_But is it true? Has Jack really thawed out? I know you told us last year, but now you've seen for yourself. How is he doing? Is he adjusting well? _

_I also wanted to give you a bit of motherly advice. I know you are quite mad at your older brother, and dreadfully sad. Please, don't let that get in the way of restoring balance; don't let it control you. Mend bridges, my dear. Perhaps then one day he will come and visit. You two were so close; it can be like that again. I know it… though I can't quite feel him—severed connections and all._

_The twins are curious, as always. They haven't stopped asking me all sorts of questions they wanted to ask you! I told them to save the questions for when you return, whenever that may be—be warned! They send their regards._

_They've had quite the busy day today! Fino made friends with a bunch of stray cats. They're lovely little animals, though I'm not sure how they got in. I'm sure he had something to do with it. _

_Fiera decided today to help out around the house, like you do. I told her it wasn't necessary, but she insisted. She looks up to you so much! I let her help me do some cooking. I left her alone in the kitchen for fifteen minutes, and when I returned, she had made a lava cake!_

_Though she didn't realize lava cakes were not supposed to be made with, Ahh… _real_ lava._

_I miss you so much, my darling! Send my regards to Elle and Bernard, please. _

_I hope to hear from you soon, sweetheart._

_Your Loving Parents,_

_Winter and Blaise._

"My parents miss me. They send you their regards," Jacquie said, smiling. "Apparently Fiera tried to cook again. She made a lava cake…"

"Oh no. She used real lava, didn't she?" Elle said, beginning to laugh.

Joining her friend, Jacquie nodded.

"That must've been something during coffee time…"

"That also reminds me! You still owe me a coffee date!" Elle insisted, poking Jacquie in the side.

Jacquie looked at the timepiece on the mantel. "It's just about four. I'll answer this and then we'll go, how's that sound?"

"Yes! Finally! You think you'll be okay to go out though?" Elle asked, gesturing to the snowy sprite's head.

"I should be fine. The cold floor helped a bit; now it's just an annoying throbbing."

She paused while grabbing her pen, pursing her lips thoughtfully.

"I hope Jack doesn't mind."

"He has no choice! Your body guard's gonna hafta go through _me_ if he wants to keep you confined to your rooms. I've waited way too long for our coffee date, Jacquie!"

She smiled, turning back to the letter.

"Besides," Elle continued, "I could always use the age old 'fresh air always helps any illness' excuse. It's fool proof."

Jacquie smiled. Catching up with her friend may do her some good.

Maybe it would help her forget about what had happened the previous afternoon.

Whatever _it_ had been.

* * *

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

_Sometimes the two of you amuse me so much, you're like two teenagers, I swear! Besides, dad, it's polite to offer a lady your seat._

_The Pole is very magical. It's so nice being up here, I've never felt so much spirit in my life!_

_I'm sure by now Grandmother has come by and told you what's going on. Or, at least, she will have by the time this finds you tomorrow morning. Jack is indeed thawed out, and about as normal as ever. He's still pretty full of himself, but he's really sad and upset. I sense a lot of remorse and regret from him, though he tries not to show it._

_It doesn't help that he seems to be having a power shortage at the moment. He can't make a snowball, freeze things, form icicles or cause blizzards—nothing. We practised all morning and it was pathetic. He feels pretty useless, and I don't know what could possibly be causing this power shortage myself._

_Because of his…malfunction, the North Pole is melting. Literally. When I arrived, the elves were in shirts and t-shirts, skirts and dresses; really thin, summery ones. It was like Hawaii or something up here! Even Santa was wearing shorts! Turns out, Jack's magic is vital to the North Pole staying frozen and safe. The Deliquesce is at risk of happening and I can only stall it. Jack has to fix it, which brings us right back to square one! He can't, because he lacks the Frost._

_Then there's another… problem. There was an incident yesterday._

_I'm sure Mother Nature has heard from Santa and told you, so I want to tell you that I'm okay, I just have a really big headache. I don't remember doing what I did but I got the story from everyone else. I fixed it right as rain as soon as possible, and don't worry mom, I went to the Elfirmiry after—Jack made sure of it. He hasn't left me alone since._

_I miss everyone just as much! Tell those little heat monsters I miss them too._

_Poor Fiera; I'm sure she tried her hardest. _

_Your Loving Daughter,_

_Jacqueline._

_PS-Don't let the cats into my rooms!_

* * *

**A/N-Interesting fact, the letter writing was never originally in the story. It kinda weaseled it's way in there, so yeah. That's a big, fun thing in the story now!**

**Happy Monday! :D**

**I hope the transition from the ice rink scene to Jacqueline in her room reading and whatnot showed the time lapse well enough. Originally it was right after the incident, but I found that two days at the Pole didn't suffice, so I made another day pass between the two scenes.**

**Anyways, Crystal Springs comes closer and closer! I'm still on Chapter 12... Winter was giving me a tad of a problem, but I worked out the kinks and let's hope I can stay ahead enough to constantly update for you all :)**

**(Side Note:The doc manager's looking a little weird lately, I have such a problem uploading fics, argh. Anyone else having an issue? Get yo shit together, !)**

**As always, drop a line! Leave me a review! I accept rants, raves, fangirl/boying (and will probably join you), pointers, tips, and various forms of key smashing (kshcshfvuids or perhaps qwertyuiop or maybe you're more of an asdfghjkl; person, that's the keysmash I use, myself! :)**

**Tel****l me what your favourite part is!**

**Here's another one...when Jack finally meets his famjam again, what would you readers like to see? I love hearing other people's stories with my lovely characters :D**

**Next chapter is the coffee date...look forward to it, and thank Ana for actually letting me borrow Elle and being awesome.**

* * *

**DISCLAIMER**

**I do not own _The Santa Clause_, nor do I own Jack Frost, Bernard, Santa/Scott Calvin, Hismus, or any other canon characters mentioned or owned above. I am making no profit off of this, it is purely for my enjoyment as well as that of the readers. I do, however, own Jacqueline Frost, as wel las her family: Blaise Frost, Winter Frost, Fino Frost and Fiera Frost. Any resemblance they bear to any specific /thing is purely coincidental; please do not use them without MY permission. ****The Legate concept is also mine; I do not mind anyone using it, so long as credit is given where credit is due.**

**I also do not own Elle. She belongs to Ana, aka etiquette-faux-pas. I am merely borrowing Ms Connolly (hope I spelt that right) and have vowed to return her (relatively) unharmed.**


	10. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine**

Elle slowly pulled open the icy door. She looked down the halls, left and right; the coast was clear.

"No sign of big brother Frost anywhere, we are clear to go!" She dashed out the door, Jacquie following behind her, smiling.

_Where do you think you're going?_

"Whoops," Elle murmured, hearing Jack in Jacquie's mind—thank goodness for telepathy.

"Forgot about that," she continued, entering Jacquie's mind.

_I'm taking your sister out for fresh air. Deal with it._

_Elle what do you—she needs rest—!_

_I'll be fine Jack! I've been cooped up for a day, I need to get out._

_See? She said she'd be okay. Now bug off! She needs girl time._

And with that, Elle blocked Jack from Jacqueline's mind for her.

"Hey!" Jacquie said.

"You'll thank me later," Elle replied, linking arms with Jacqueline and dragging her back to the café.

Jacquie smiled, knowing her friend was right.

* * *

In the far away forest, the angry man paced back and forth in his prison.

The dosage hadn't been enough.

Angrily, he swung his fist, flames blazing behind him, and punched the wall. Another scotch mark to match the rest.

He needed this to work, in order to get his vengeance; he had been so close with the other one, for so many centuries, but that had nosedived at the last possible minute! He couldn't fail with _this_ one.

He waved his hand angrily, and suddenly, a frightened Kasper appeared.

"S-s-sir…"

"How much of the potion did you use?"

"A quarter, like you told me too, s-sir…"

"That wasn't enough. How much of the vile is left?"

Shakily, Kasper reached into his pants pocket, pulling it out. The man yanked it out of Kasper's hands, glaring at the still full contents.

"Why is it still full?!" he demanded.

Kasper was shaking, stepping back a bit. "Nobody has seen her since yesterday, sir…"

"Well you are going to see her. I don't care what you do, but if you want to see _you know who_ again, you'll find the frozen girl and give her the potion. Half the bottle, this time."

"I'll do it. Just don't hurt Polly, p…please…"

"As long as you do as I say. Give the Frost girl another dosage today. _Stronger_."

And waving his hand, he poofed Kasper away with a new vile.

"Soon they will all regret the day they locked me away. I was meant to rule, and I will regain what is mine no matter _what_ it takes."

* * *

The town square looked much better today. The ice rink was filled with elves, the windows slowly being repaired—ice windows were nice, but normal windows were preferred. The square sparkled as the two friends made their way to the café arm in arm, bistro tables sparkling.

Kasper watched them approach, having been on the lookout all day for Jacqueline. Seeing them sit, he ran to their table.

"Hello Miss Elle! Hello Miss Jacqueline! It's very nice to see you around again. What can I get for you?" he asked, eagerly.

"A coffee and a cocoacinno. Abby knows how to make the coffee," Elle replied, smiling.

"Sure thing Miss Elle!" he scurried into the building, leaving the girls to themselves for a bit.

"He seems eager today," Elle murmured, watching as he came out seconds later, holding two silver cups in his hands.

"Coffee for you Miss Elle, and my special cocoacinnos for you, Miss Jacqueline!"

"Thank you, Kasper," Elle said, smiling.

"Oh it's no problem! Especially with how nice you've been to me, Miss Elle. Enjoy the drinks! If you need anything just shout!"

Watching the elf scurry away, Jacqueline stirred her cocoa, remembering her earlier speculations about the small elf.

"Who is that elf?" Jacquie asked, sipping her cocoa.

"Kasper. He's… a special case, I suppose," Elle said, stirring her coffee—despite being an elf, she still had a taste for the caffeinated beverage. It very much bewildered all of the other elves, especially Bernard.

"Oh?" Jacquie said, raising a frozen eyebrow.

"You look like your brother when you do that," Elle murmured, sipping her drink. "He's a little elf, Kasper, much smaller than everyone else. He's been bounced from department to department."

"Is he a miniature Curtis?"

"Pfft, not at all. He doesn't mess up what he does. He's very good at nearly everything, to be honest. It's just… the other elves often complain about him getting underfoot, or in their way. We've put him in R and D, wrapping, the naughty and nice center, toy building, baking—and every time, more than one elf complains that he's in their way and useless."

"Ouch."

"I know. I've been trying to get him somewhere where he won't be a bother, and turns out he makes a great cocoa. So, I asked Abby and she agreed to let him work at the Grille. This way, he's out of a big environment and somewhere smaller."

"Does he get nervous around crowds then?"

"I think so. He's a jumpy, shy elf, which is totally weird around here. There's also the... should I be telling you this?" Elle asked, jokingly.

Jacquie nearly choked on her cocoa. "I have no plans to usurp Santa in the near future, I just want this headache to go away, really."

Laughing, Elle poked her friend playfully. "You never know," she said, eliciting a small smile from Jacquie.

Elle turned her attention to the window, frowning as she watched Kasper eagerly help Abby.

"You see, he has a little sister," Elle began, "And he's always trying to take care of her as best as he can. She disappeared recently though."

"What?"

Elle shrugged. "One day she was walking with Kasper to work, the next, poof, it was just Kasper, who looked very shaken up. He said his sister was missing, and had no idea where she went. He went on about some kind of fire, too."

"Oh the poor thing," Jacquie said.

"We investigated, though. Their house wasn't burnt up or anything. Everything was fine. So naturally, the rumours started."

"Don't tell me the other elves actually think Kasper had something to do with his sister's disappearance," Jacquie said.

"They watch too much CSI: Elfsburg. I think they forget that it was a _fictional_ series the drama elves made a few years back."

Elle sighed. "I felt bad for him and so I've been personally seeing to it he's somewhere where he won't be yelled at or hear the rumours. Bernard and I have been trying to figure something out, but the Elfficers haven't found any new leads. It's like she never even existed!"

"How odd," Jacquie said.

"This whole place is strange, even after getting used to it."

"Speaking of strange," Jacquie began, switching the topic, "How on earth did you convince Bernard to go on vacation?"

"How did you know it was me?" Elle said, smiling.

"How could I not! I've known him for nearly ten hundred years and not once has he taken time off or a leave or anything. So when we heard about the 'vacation', my family was pretty shocked. I knew it had to be you, there was no way Santa and Curtis could've convinced him."

Laughing, Elle drank her coffee.

"Well, once I settled in here and we got to work, it got busy. So busy that Bernard and I barely had time to see each other. We really hadn't settled in at all. With each other, I mean. Or had any time together without work worrying us. So, I talked to Santa one day about a leave, told him to use any amount of reasons to convince Bernard. I figured it couldn't hurt to go on a vacation and give Curtis a second chance. I mean, he was older and wiser and I didn't think he'd mess up _again_. I never saw what happened coming!"

"Nobody ever sees Jack's shenanigans coming. And when they do, it messes everyone up," Jacquie murmured, drinking her cocoa.

At least his shenanigans were in the past.

Now she was just worried about _her_ shenanigan. That she couldn't remember doing at all.

Shoving the worries aside, she focused on her friend.

She could worry about herself later.

* * *

Santa sat in his office, reading some letters. While the elves in the Mail Department usually took care of the letters, there were a few Scott enjoyed reading himself and answering himself, as well. One of these was from his niece, Lucy.

Since last Christmas, she had kept up a hearty correspondence with her beloved Uncle Scott, and he found he was enjoying it tremendously. She asked a lot of questions about Buddy, and Jack as well. He also updated her on what everyone at home was doing; with her letters came letters from Bud and Sylvia, which Lucy picked up and mailed with hers. It was a treat for both Scott and Carol.

In return, Scott would tell her all about the workshop. What was happening, what toys were being made, how Buddy Junior was growing up, how Comet was doing; lately, she had been asking about Jack, as well. So, Santa had told her all about their budding friendship and all the good Jack had done.

Until the Deliquesce, as he had learnt it was, began to show. He expressed his concern, telling her about Jack's power shortage and the melting, and Lucy wrote back; now, he was reading her letter.

_Dear Uncle Scott,_

_I'm glad that you figured out what was wrong with Jack, at least. See? I told you he wasn't evil anymore! I hope he's okay, and that Mother Nature found a way to help him. _

_Mom won't let me put up the tree just yet, she says November is still a little early. December's next week though and Uncle Scott, I just love Christmas! I want to make the house as pretty as the North Pole! It's the most amazing place in the world!_

_Do you think we can go again this year? I'd love to, Uncle Scott, I could help Carol babysit and help the elves and even see Jack and make sure he's okay!_

_I'm being extra good, too, just in case!_

_Love, _

_Lucy_

Scott smiled. What a kid!

The smile turned into a frown, however, when he reread the letter.

"Bring them all up again?" he said to himself, putting down the letter and taking off his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

It would make Carol so happy. Heck, he'd love it, too! But there was so much going on this Christmas…Jack's power shortage, The Deliquesce, and now Jacqueline's incident…sure, it was a onetime thing, but what if?

Perhaps when things toned down, he'd bring them all up. Heavens knew Carol's parents were asking, too. Even from far away they spoiled their grandson, and had grown a soft spot for Lucy too, what with her delivering the mail for them.

For now, though, it was too hectic.

"Santa I don't know what to do," Jack said, bursting into Santa's office, as if to prove his point.

"About what? What happened?"

"It's Jacqueline. She went out with Elle! What if she goes crazy again? What if she gets worse? What if—"

A worried, frantic Jack. This was possibly the oddest thing Santa had seen all day.

"Whoa there Jack, calm down—"

"I can't! She won't listen to me and I—"

"Jack, can it, sit, will ya? She's a teenager! I think. She's not _going_ to listen to you, trust me. I know."

"But the melting, and the crazy, and the head ache and Elle—"

It was going to be a long few minutes.

* * *

The two friends had sat and talked well past Elle's break time. It was nearing six when they finally realized the time.

"Oh dear, I'm expected for dinner in a half an hour," Elle murmured, getting up from the chair.

"Expected? What is this, the seventeenth century?"

"Ha, ha. Funny. No, Bernard and I have been trying to have dinner together as much as possible; it's really hard with work and all."

"You could just have dinner with me, he can wait! Girl time is important, too," she said, winking and leaning back in her chair.

"Jaquelineeee," Elle said, shoving her chair a bit.

Jacquie lost her balance and fell backwards, blue material everywhere.

"Ha!"

"Rude!"

"But totally worth it, you were asking for it! Who am I to ignore gravity?" Elle said, offering a hand to her friend.

Grabbing it, Jacqueline began to get up—then yanked Elle down in the snow beside her, face first.

"Mmff mf mff!"

"What was that? I couldn't hear you through the snow."

Righting herself, Elle gathered some snow in her hand, throwing a snowball at her friend.

"Sure you wanna challenge me, of all people, to a snowball fight?"

"You suck," Elle said, taking Jacquie's offered hand and getting up, brushing the snow off her clothes.

"Shall we?" Jacquie asked, offering her arm.

"Of course."

Arm in arm, the two friends walked into the workshop. The place was bustling, as usual. Various stuffed animals were hung on the hooked assembly lines, circulating their way through the workshop. The conveyer belts brought countless toys from the testing facilities on the upper level down to the main floor of the workshop, where they were tweaked and sent back up then finally sent to wrapping. The whole building buzzed with happy sounds and was filled with cheer.

"You know, I know that you're gonna be busy helping Jack and all, and I'll be busy with work, but we should really have that _Lord of the Rings_ marathon you promised me. Not to mention, I need to get you into Star Trek…"

Abruptly, Jacqueline stopped short, letting go of Elle. Elle, who had been about to launch into an _"I don't care if you don't wanna I wanna and you promised AND you're my friend so deal with it"_ type speech, turned around—and stopped short when she saw Jacquie completely still, twitching and breathing heavily once more.

"Oh no…"

It was happening again.

Jacqueline was about to go berserk, and Elle had led her right into the workshop.

* * *

**A/N-oh no oh no OH NO**

**WHAT OH DEAR THE WORKSHOP**

**SHIT'S GONNA HIT THE FAN OH NO**

***coughs***

**Ahem. Right. So Happy St Patrick's Day! If any of you are the type to use it as an excuse to drink and be crazy, please be safe! I, for one, am hiding in my dorm room all day today. Everyone around me is already drunk, it's terrible and loud and I have heard some very profane things!**

**But to summarize this chappie of Crystal Springs:**

***EVIL BADDY INTENSIFIES***

***CUTENESS INTENSIFIES***

***FRIENDSHIP INTENSIFIES***

***INCIDENT INTENSIFIES***

**Side note: did I ever mention how much I _love_ cliffies? :D**

**Anyway, I managed to make it through Chapter 13, though I'm having a lot of problems with this arc of the story. I want a bunch of stuff to happen but can't quite seem to place anything properly! Chapter 14 is starting interestingly, and hopefully I can write it out this week and hit Chapter 15. That's my goal. I like to be at least 3 or so chapters ahead of the Story you guys have so far at all times, so I know I can constantly update.**

**And to all you Elle lovers and Elle's creator, Ana, herself: I PROMISE ELLE ISN'T GOING TO GET INTO TROUBLE OKAY SO BREATH EASY.**

**That little white box down there is open to rants, raves, keysmashes, book recommendations, fanfic recommendations, funny jokes, smiley faces and fangirl/boying EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEs and OHMIGOSH es. Tell me how you feel guys, let's do a feelings inventory sesh ;)**

**Favourite parts? I quite enjoyed writing Elle as a 'spy' at the beginning *snickers***

**PS Has anyone read the FanFiction Story guidelines? I did just now and ho boy I'm laugh...**

* * *

**DISCLAIMERS **

**I do not own _The Santa Clause_, nor do I own Jack Frost, Bernard, Santa/Scott Calvin, or any other canon characters mentioned or owned above. I am making no profit off of this, it is purely for my enjoyment as well as that of the readers. I do, however, own Jacqueline Frost, as well as her family: Blaise Frost, Winter Frost, Fino Frost and Fiera Frost. Any resemblance they bear to any specific person or persons is purely coincidental; please do not use them without MY permission. ****The Legate concept is also mine; I do not mind anyone using it, so long as credit is given where credit is due.**

**I also do not own Elle. She belongs to Ana, aka etiquette-faux-pas. I am merely borrowing Ms Connolly (hope I spelt that right) and have vowed to return her (relatively) unharmed.**


	11. Chapter Ten

**Chapter Ten**

Elle watched as her friend twitched, eyes closing.

This was not going to end well.

At _all._

She snapped into action, right away; it didn't look like she could stop what had started. Last time, stopping Jacquie was a losing battle; she just kinda snapped out of it on her own. Elle could only hope this one wouldn't last as long.

"Elves! Clear the area! Jacquie's having another attack!"

The surrounding elves, who had noticed the winter sprite freeze up, began to move out of the way, running when they saw Jacqueline turn around, her eyes once more turning red, the blue disappearing completely.

"Elle! What's going on?"

"Bernard! Grab Jack and Santa, Jacquie's having another meltdown!"

"Elle, get out of the way!" he yelled, watching as Jacqueline raised her hands and aimed for the toys in transport.

"The toys! Elle, can we stop her?" Bernard yelled, running through the crowd of elves to get to her side.

"We tried last time, it doesn't work! She just…snaps out of it!"

Jacqueline shot icicles out of her hands, once more. The two head elves ducked, the icy projectiles whizzing over their heads, stabbing the pulley systems in the suspended assembly lines. They jerked to a stop, teddy bears swaying back and forth.

"She's attacking the toys!"

"I _know_ that!"

"We need to stop her," Bernard said, awkwardly speed walking towards Jacqueline.

"We can't! Jack and I tried last time! It was useless!"

Bernard kept going, determined to save the production lines.

"Jacqueline, that's enough!" Bernard began.

The icy sprite turned at him, glaring.

"Go away!" She shouted—her voice sounding odd; cold and icy with a deep undercurrent.

"As head elf I can't stand by idly while you destroy everything!"

"Just _watch me_," and, lifting up her hands, she blasted him with snow, throwing him across the workshop.

"Bernard!" Elle shouted, fighting the winds Jacquie summoned, trying to get to him. He was encased in a pile of snow, struggling out of it.

With an evil, un-Jacquie like smirk, she breathed in, her face turning cold blue, and brought her hands to her mouth, blowing out. Icy, blue mist spread around her, slowly creeping around the workshop.

"Get back down!" Elle said, throwing herself on Bernard, both of them landing in the snow pile, face down. They could feel the mist creep over their backs, making its way to the toys.

The conveyer belts stopping, the ice clung to the toys; when the fog cleared, the two elves looked up.

Bernard's jaw dropped; Elle gasped.

The toys looked like something out of _The Nightmare Before Christmas._ They were completely encased in ice; jagged and sharp, they looked like solid ice porcupines, spikes around their backs; the teddy bears looked like they wore icy battle armour.

"This…this is bad," Elle said, pulling herself out of the pile of snow.

"You don't say?!" Bernard said, sarcastic and scared.

Elle nearly smacked him, before turning to watch Jacquie. There had to be a way to stop her.

Said winter sprite was guiding the cold mist around herself, spreading it to all the toy lines. Every toy in sight was touched by the haze, frozen and chilling in looks.

Suddenly, Jacqueline froze once more. The red disappeared, her blue eyes returning, tired, fearful and confused. The mist dissipated, her hands falling at her sides as she fell down unconscious once more.

"Jacqueline!"

Elle looked up; sprinting down the stairs was Jack, running to his sister; once more catching her as she fell.

"Is Jacquie all—silver bells, what _happened?"_

Santa stopped at the top of the stairs and stared at the disaster below him.

The elves had scattered, leaving the floor nearly deserted. Bernard and Elle were caught in a huge snowdrift, struggling to get out; Elle determined to get to her friend. Icicles were stuck in the gears of the suspended transport lines, and hanging from them were the scariest toys Scott had ever seen.

The conveyer belts were in quite the same shape. The icicles were jammed into the control panels, the conveyors stopped and the toys reduced to great big balls of spiky ice.

"How long has it been since she fainted?" Jack asked frantically, still holding a limp Jacquie.

"One minute or so… last time it was only seconds before she woke up," Elle said, joining Jack beside her.

"We need the Doctor, someone get Hismus!" Bernard shouted, joining Santa at the base of the stairs.

A few elves scurried away, the others gathering around Jack, who had shifted Jacquie up so she was leaning against his torso.

"She's not waking up, she's not waking up!"

"Jack, calm down, okay? She'll wake up, alright?" Bernard said, trying to reassure himself too.

"But Bernard, it's been two minutes now," Elle said, searching for a pulse. "Last time, it was seconds. Five seconds. I counted!"

"Coming through, make way! Doctor on the floor! Excuse me, pardon…" Hismus had finally appeared and dropped down across from Jack.

"Alright, let's check her vitals… what happened, another panic attack?"

"Panic attack?! That was _not_ a panic attack! She was _possessed!"_

"_Bernard!"_ Elle snapped.

"Hmm… she's breathing… her heartbeat is steady, a bit speed up… perhaps she has a minor concussion?"

"She didn't hit her head when she fell, I caught her in time…"

"We need to get organized," Santa began.

Elle looked at one of the clocks on the wall. It had been about five minutes…

Jacqueline gasped, suddenly and loudly, her eyes flying open, shooting up.

"What... What… I don't… remember… Oh no. Oh _no._ I'm on the floor again…" she looked out into the workshop, and screamed.

"What in the name of Mother Nature are _those_ things!" she said, pointing to the toys.

"Jacqueline, calm down…"

"Miss Frost, I still need to take your blood pressure—"

"Oh no… did I… I did that, didn't I?" she asked, her blue eyes looking around.

"Well…" Elle began.

"Yes, you did," Bernard cut in.

"But it was an accident! She didn't mean too—"

"Didn't mean to, look at the place! If I didn't know better, I'd say a frozen Jack did this!"

"Santa! I'm sorry, but she is _not_ evil!" Elle insisted.

"I'm…I'm not so sure anymore," Jacquie said, quietly.

Everyone instantly silenced themselves.

"Jacqueline, you're not evil," Bernard said.

"Then…what's happening to me?"

* * *

Jack had dragged his sister to the Elfirmiry, insistent that she get every test possible done.

Thankfully, Bernard hadn't jumped on her like he had last time. Jacqueline assumed it's because he had witnessed the…attack.

She had apologized to both of them for throwing them across the workshop and into a snowbank, and had apologized to Santa profusely for the toy drawback. He seemed to be in shock; he said not to worry, and insisted she get to a bed immediately. Jacqueline had turned back and watched Elle boost the elf morale, Bernard assign tasks, and the elves eagerly thawing the toys, trying to work fast and move quickly to be as little behind as possible.

She looked forward, then back again. Her last sight before turning the hall to the newly refurbished and relocated Elfirmiry was Santa talking with Bernard and Elle, the three of them frantically rushing towards his office.

She was poked and prodded quite a bit, temperature taken multiple times; it was hard to assure Hismus and the Nurses that she didn't have hypothermia and that the freezing point of water was, in fact her normal temperature.

Hismus told her that he thought it could be many things. Perhaps stress, or the shock of seeing her brother again. Or maybe she moved to the Pole too suddenly. Perhaps a change of scenery would work? He deduced that she needed some healing time, time away.

When she was able to go back to her room, she promptly hid under piles of blankets and thought.

She had come to the Pole to help Jack, to save the Polar Ice Capps. And instead…

_You've put everyone behind by a few days at least, you're forgetting periods of time and apparently during those forgetful moments you go crazy!_ She thought, squishing a pillow.

So, Jacquie thought. She ignored all the knocks at her door, ignored her brother's mental prying, and tried to figure out an answer.

She couldn't stay at the Pole any longer. She was risking everyone's safety; these… 'Panic attacks' had only begun upon her arrival north. But then there was the matter of Jack's power shortage, and the Deliquesce.

Suddenly, Jacqueline had an idea.

A wonderful idea.

Though it was risky. Were they ready to do this? Was it really time for forgiveness?

It had been for her. Perhaps, then…

Determined, she threw off the covers, and walked over to her frosty table, opening a drawer and pulling out some parchment and an icy blue fountain pen.

She sat down, and scribbled out a letter.

* * *

"She's not evil! Trust me, I was there!"

"Elle, it happened twice within forty eight hours! How could you possibly keep defending her?"

"Because she's my friend! Bernard, Santa, please. She wouldn't do this intentionally, I know it."

Santa sighed, placing his glasses on the desk and rubbing the bridge of his nose.

They had been at this for quite some time now. None of them knew what to do—Elle insisted that Jacquie wasn't evil, and that banning her or kicking her out of the Pole was way too severe a punishment. Bernard wanted to make her happy, but also wanted to keep everyone safe; Santa was caught in the middle of it all. On the one hand, Jacqueline had done a lot of damage. But on the other, she was genuinely sweet and didn't seem evil—she never even remembered doing the damage that resulted from her attacks. And of course, the Deliquesce and Jack's power issues were there, too—and Jacqueline was the only person assigned who could help fix _both_.

This was generally why nobody noticed the door open up, just a crack—they were too busy trying to figure something out.

Jacqueline stood on the other side, a blue eye peering in—she could tell this wasn't the best time. Curiosity overwhelming her, she kept the door slightly ajar, cloaking herself and listening. She knew they were talking about her.

"Elle, we have to consider the possibility that maybe…" Bernard paused, lost for words.

"Maybe what?"

"Maybe… there's a little bit… _more_ to the Legate Law than just stepping into your Legendary Figure's shoes."

"What are you not telling me," Elle demanded, hands on her hips, glaring at Bernard.

"There's more to it?" Santa questioned.

"Well, to my understanding, the Legate Law is about balance. They balance each other out."

"Jacqueline always fixed Jack's mistakes, before the thaw," Elle murmured.

"Exactly. But when he thawed, he turned good. And now he's powerless, and we've all seen Jacquie's power levels."

"Bernard, no. I know what you're going to say and I disagree. She's my friend!"

"Elle, she's my friend too! I'm as worried about her as you are. But maybe the balance bit goes a little further than we thought. Maybe if one of the Frost Legendaries is good, the other _has_ to be evil to balance it out. Maybe…" Bernard stopped.

"Wait, so you think that now that Jack's good, Jacqueline is turning _evil_ to balance it out?" Santa questioned, shocked.

"No. That's not—no, she's not freezing herself!" Elle protested.

"We can't rule it out," Bernard said, dejectedly, squeezing Elle's shoulder.

Jacquie flinched, clutching the letter she held to her chest, feeling her face burning and trying to stop the tears from coming out. One dropped, anyway. She knocked on the door, sliding into the room, clearing her throat.

"Jacqueline!"

"Why are you out of the Elfirmiry?!" Elle demanded.

"Because I don't like hospitals and I feel fine. Just… headachy."

"You should be resting. How'd you even get out of the Elfirmiry so easily? Hismus is ruthless with his patients…"

Jacqueline shrugged. "I walked."

She came further into the room, passing the letter to Santa across his desk. "I've made a decision on behalf of the three of you," she began, fidgety. "I know you don't know how to deal with me right now… I don't know either. I thought out every possible solution I could. If I stay here, that weird 'crazy evil Jacquie' thing might happen again. But then, there's the Deliquesce and Jack to worry about, too."

The three were silent, waiting for Jacqueline to continue. Hands folded in front of her dress, she fidgeted nervously.

"Tomorrow I'm going to temporarily refreeze the Polar Ice Cap. Then I'm going home."

She held up her hand, stopping any protests.

"I talked to a few people while in the Elfirmiry. They said that maybe some time off would be good, a change of scenery… and so, I thought some time with the little firecrackers and my insane dad might help out, and maybe a nice, cold hug from my mom. And an "everything's going to be alright Jacqueline" from her, too."

"But what about the melting, and the power shortage, and the—"

"It's only for a bit, Santa. Everyone's agreed that family may help right now."

"There's just one problem," Bernard began.

"What?"

"Jack."

Jacqueline paused, preparing herself for the reaction she knew she was going to get next.

"I'm bringing him home, with me."

She got the reactions she was looking for; well, two out of three. Santa almost chocked on his cocoa; Bernard's jaw dropped, a look of surprise and perhaps worry on his face. Elle, however, had a very knowing look on her face; her small smile gave it away.

"I think that's a great idea," Elle said.

"Wait, what?" Bernard replied.

"You heard me," Elle said, "It's a great idea!"

"Uh, hello? The Day of Darkness. Remember that? Yeah, I don't know if Winter and Blaise are going to like their long gone son appearing at their doorstep fourteen centuries later _after that fiasco!_" Bernard finished.

Jacqueline paused, smiling sheepishly.

"You haven't even talked to Jack yet, have you?" Elle asked, though she _knew_ Jacquie hadn't.

"I'm going to after this. I think it'll be good for him, too. Crystal Springs is a magical place, said to heal. Hence the name. And he misses the family dreadfully. It may take a bit of coaxing for him, but as soon as I hear back from my parents, we'll get going."

"Jacquie, I think it may be best if… for the time being—until you get your reply—you stay in your rooms," Bernard said carefully.

"Did you just ground her?" Elle asked.

"I think it might be best, in case she goes berserk again. This way we can minimize the damage and we don't get as behind in production."

"I agree. I'm grounded. I'll stick to my books and Jack's room."

"Are you sure this is right?" Santa asked her.

Jacquie nodded. "Positive. We'll go home for a few days, Jack and I will try to figure out what's up with him. We'll be keeping tabs on the Polar Ice Capps, as well. We'll be back soon, too. Once I know for certain that the likelihood of me flying off the handle and forgetting it completely is gone."

"Well, if you insist, Jacquie. I'll get this mailed out as soon as possible," Santa said, getting up with the letter and making his way out of his office to the mail centre.

They watched Santa leave, Jacquie about to follow.

"Jacqueline, wait," Bernard said.

She stopped, turning around.

"I hope you know what you're doing," he began.

"Bernard, save the lecture. I know _exactly_ what I'm doing. You should know that I am capable of anything, _especially_ after helping you not get lost in Seattle."

Elle smirked, knowing full well that even though Bernard would've found her, no matter what, Jacquie's help definitely speed up the process.

"All right, all right. I get it."

"And don't worry, no hard feelings about being grounded," Jacquie said.

Bernard rolled his eyes.

"If I don't see you before you leave—though let's face it, I probably will," Elle began.

"Should I feel threatened? Because I feel threatened."

Jacquie laughed, winking at Bernard. Elle whacked him on the arm, playfully.

"I need girl time too, okay?"

He rolled his eyes, smiling. "I know."

"Right, anyway, Jacquie, get better, okay? We'll keep trying to figure out what's going on with you up here. We'll find answers, we have to."

She gave Jacquie a hug, the chilly sprite smiling.

"I will. Thanks, both of you. Now I should probably go talk to Jack," and with that, Jacquie left the room.

Alone at last, Bernard hugged Elle from behind, kissing her head.

"I hope you know what Jacquie's getting herself into."

"I know everything," she murmured. "Besides, she needs this. Her whole family does."

* * *

**A/N-SEE? I PROMISED ELLE WOULDN'T GET IN TROUBLE AND SHE DIDN'T. Speaking of said character, I hope she's _in _character (this is a question for you Ana) as well as Bernard...feedback's appreciated!**

**Now we enter the chapters I struggled to write! I'm 3/4s through chapter 14, though it's being a bit troublesome right about now. There's a crucial part I gotta go over and then I can get well ahead again, hopefully! For now, I shall still give usual Monday updates. Hopefully...**

**Anywho, not much else to say about this chappie. As usual, that white box down there is open for your feedback, thoughts, feelings, keysmashes, and vague one worded reviews like "interesting" or "hmmmmm good luck talking to Jack, Jacqueline, LOL" or whatever. **

**I love your reviews and feedback and support and love you all! *throws out kisses an hugs and cookies***

**Happy Crystal Springs Lundi! Until next week, friends :3**

* * *

**DISCLAIMER**

**I do not own _The Santa Clause_, nor do I own Jack Frost, Bernard, Santa/Scott Calvin, or any other canon characters mentioned or seen above. I am making no profit off of this, it is purely for my enjoyment as well as that of the readers. I do, however, own Jacqueline Frost, as well as her family: Blaise Frost, Winter Frost, Fino Frost and Fiera Frost. Any resemblance they bear to any specific person or persons is purely coincidental; please do not use them without MY permission. In this context, the Deliquesce is an idea that belongs to myself. ****The Legate concept is also mine; I do not mind anyone using it, so long as credit is given where credit is due.**

**I also do not own Elle. She belongs to Ana, aka etiquette-faux-pas. I am merely borrowing Ms Connolly (hope I spelt that right) and have vowed to return her (relatively) unharmed.**


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven**

Now, Jacqueline faced the final hurdle.

Jack.

She stared at the blue door in front of her; she didn't know why she was hesitating. It was just a closed door. Jack wouldn't mind coming home…right?

She raised her hand to knock, but the door opened before she had the opportunity to.

"Jacqueline. Why are you out of your room?"

"Can we talk? I mean, I _need_ to talk to you. It's…important. Extremely important."

He opened the door, gesturing her inside. She walked in slowly, clambering towards the tall bed, and climbing on it.

"I've been thinking…"

"That could be dangerous," Jack murmured, perching himself on the baseboard of his bed.

Ignoring him, she continued. "We haven't had any time to practise for two days, because of…"

"Your… illness?"

"Sure, let's go with that."

It was silent for a minute, Jacqueline biting her lip and twirling a frozen strand of hair around her finger.

"It is a slight drawback. We have the Deliquesce to worry about _and_ my power outage. They do go hand in hand!"

"I know. Like I was saying, I was thinking of a solution to all three of those problems. If I stay here, I can help you and prolong the Deliquesce, until you get your mojo back and we can fix this, permanently."

"My _mojo?_ I have my mojo!"

"I wasn't talking about your ego, you pompous git," she shot back, slightly irritated.

"Nor was I," Jack murmured, brushing off the name calling.

"That's not on a need to know basis," Jacqueline said, fast, realizing where Jack's mind was at.

Jack shrugged, grinning impishly and resisting the urge to reply to that in an _inappropriate_ manner.

"That sounds alright," he said instead. "What's the catch to that option?"

"If we stay? There's a very likely chance of the… _illness_ reminding us of its existence."

"Oh?"

"I realized that it started once I arrived here, up North," Jacqueline continued, cautiously.

"Oh."

Jack felt like he should know where this was going. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, though.

"And how do you plan on solving both those problems, hmm?"

"Well… I'm going to go home."

"Home?"

"Yes, home. To Crystal Springs."

"Crystal Springs?"

"Well yes, that is where I live."

"To…Frost Mansion?"

"Um…yes."

"Oh, okay. Right. So when will you come back here?"

"We'll come back when the incidents stop, and when we have you relatively fixed."

"I'm sorry, we?"

"Yes, we. I already wrote home. You're coming with me Jack."

"To Crystal Springs?" he said, uncrossing his legs and standing.

"Yes."

"To Frost Mansion?"

"_Yes_."

"Both of us?"

"I'm pretty sure that's what I just said."

"Oh no. I'm sorry, Jacqueline, I don't think I can."

"Jack, it's the only option. Some down time at home to heal, then we can focus on your powers—or lack thereof, and I can get away from where the incidents keep happening."

"I can't. Jacqueline, you know what I did. How could I possibly face Blaise and Winter? And, and, the twins, Pinto and Pieria?"

"Fino and Fiera."

"See? I don't even know their names! I've never met them!"

"I know that, I told you that a few days ago."

"Exactly! Jacqueline, if I go home, I—when you confronted me, that was scary. Explosive. Facing mom and dad and the siblings I've never met, it's bound to be much worse!"

Exasperated, and still a little headachy, Jacqueline sighed.

"Jack, you won't know unless you come home. Eventually, if you stay thawed, you're gonna hafta come back."

"I know, I know…it's just…" he began, sitting on the bed beside her.

"Just what?" she asked, rolling over and supporting her head on her hands, glancing up at Jack.

"I miss them. I miss them so terribly. I want to…I want to make things right. But what if they don't?"

Jacqueline sat up, staring earnestly at her brother.

"Jack, it's been fourteen hundred years. Believe me when I say this: they want to make things right. And this, Jack, this is your chance; we go home and you see mom and dad and make amends, and meet the twins, and reconnect."

Jack sat, thoughtfully.

He remembered his conversation with Santa a few days back.

He had a chance. It started with Jacqueline; now, it was time to move on to Blaise and Winter.

His parents.

"Okay. I agree. I'll go with you. This is my chance to fix things. I can't—_won't_ waste it. Not again. Not _ever_."

"Great. As soon as I get the reply, we leave."

And with that, Jacqueline rolled off of Jack's bed, and slowly walked out the door, turning down the hall to her room.

Jack sent a very frail, nearly non-existent breeze to close the door.

He was going home.

Not to the lonely old flat, but to the lovely white mansion; to a loving family.

Or so he hoped.

* * *

The reply came almost instantaneously; a few hours after she talked to Jack, a messenger elf came running with a response.

"Here you go Ms. Frost!" The little elf said, cheerily.

Mumbling a thank you, she opened the letter, reading it quickly.

_It's about time. I'll marshal up the troops. See you tomorrow morning._

_-Dad_

With an expected time of arrival, Jacqueline got down to business.

* * *

Blaise Frost sat in his office, rubbing his chin and staring at the piece of parchment before him.

He had already sent off the reply as soon as possible; his little Jacqueline needed them.

And so, apparently, did Jack.

Sighing heavily, he scanned the letter again.

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

_I had another incident today. _

_I don't remember any of it; I'm starting to get scared. I talked to a few people. The doctor has deemed them 'panic attacks' and believes it is because of the 'massive amounts of stress' I'm under, with Jack's power shortage, taking care of the weather, and the Deliquesce. I think they're nuts, and that it's not a panic attack. We can talk more about everything once I'm home._

_See, I thought a lot, and I decided that the best way to continue helping the Council with the Deliquesce prevention, as well as Jack, would be to go home, to you and the hotheads._

_With Jack._

_Please reply as soon as possible._

_Love,  
Jacqueline_

Blaise recalled the very emotional night nearly a year ago, when Mother Nature came to their house, asking for their help with what Jack had done this time. He recalled his wife's words when they were in the mall, after a particular emotional meltdown. Mother Nature had said that perhaps Jack would come back. Blaise had doubted it; his precious Winter looked at him, a challenging expression on her beautiful face.

_"If he did…what would you do, Blaise?"_

Blaise realized now that he never asked her.

He himself was done being angry. Fate had his ways, that blasted wisp.

But how about Winter?

And Fino and Fiera?

Granted, they had never met Jack. They had only learnt about him in the last year or so.

And Jacqueline seemed to have forgiven him already; he had gotten that vibe from her letters.

Now Blaise was contemplating something he would never, ever do in his endless life.

He contemplated not telling Winter.

"Dadddddddd!"

Turning around on his chair, Blaise watched as his office door burst open, Fiera running up to his desk, Fino close behind.

"Dad mom says dinner is ready—"

"Why have you been cooped up all day? We wanted to play fire tag—

"Fiera, dad's probably been busy with work stuff—"

"_What_ work stuff, Fino?"

"Whoa, whoa, _whoa!_" Blaise said, laughing. "Slow down you two. I'll be right there, okay?"

"Okay!" Fiera said, running out of the room.

Fino stayed across from his father's desk, staring wisely, hands behind his back.

"You okay dad? You look awfully tired. I didn't mean to keep you up _that_ late last night, I just really wanted to finish the story—"

"No, it's okay, Fino. It's like you said, just work stuff."

The little boy shrugged. "If you say so."

"Fino, c'mon!" his twin yelled in the distance.

"Mom's worried too, dad. You should get outside today!"

And with that, Fino ran off to join his sister, nearly crashing into his mom on the way out.

"Sorry Mommy!"

"It's okay, sweetheart. Tell your sister you can start eating, we'll be right there."

Fino blasted out of the office to the promise of food the dining room held. Smiling, Winter came into Blaise's office, shutting the door quietly. She stood in front of her husband's desk, a sweet smile only for him gracing her face.

"Winter, darling, I told the kids, I'll be right there."

"I know," she said, sitting on the plush chair in front of his desk. "I'm just… very concerned. You've been in here since the postage came this morning. Is it Jacqueline?"

Ah. Leave it to Winter to see right through him.

"Eh, partially…"

"Jack? Oh dear, what's happened?"

Blaise jumped out of his seat. "Oh, Winter dearest, nothing bad! It's…uh…Jacqueline's coming home. And so is Jack."

"Oh dear, are they well?"

"Jacqueline keeps having those incidents Mother Nature told us about… the ones reminiscent of Jack's frozen days."

"Oh no."

"Oh yes," Blaise said, sitting back down in his seat, slouched.

"Has she gotten checked up? It's not like her to act like that!"

"According to the letter, she did go to the Elfirmiry. They recommended time away, thinking that she was having some form of panic attacks…"

"So she chose to come home, then?"

Blaise nodded, running a hand through his vibrant red hair. Usually, it was on fire—literally. However, in his current state of turmoil, it was as tame as could be.

"And she's bringing Jack."

"Yes, she is."

"When do they arrive?"

Briefly, Blaise hesitated; he had given them a time—tomorrow morning. The sooner, the better. But what should he tell Winter? The truth?

She would worry; he knew her so well. He could already tell, just by looking at her. Her forehead was wrinkled, she bit her lip, and the telltale fiddling with her thumbs—the usual signs of her worrying—were all there.

"Sometime in the next two days," he lied.

A very small nod was his reply.

"You'll be okay?"

"Yes. I'm just… Jack's coming with her, Blaise."

He nodded.

"Jack's…coming home."

* * *

That night, Blaise lay face up in bed, staring at the ceiling; his wife curled into a slight ball against his side, his arm around her shoulders. Her familiar coolness was comforting to him, the rise and fall of her chest soothing.

Blaise could not sleep. His brows were furrowed and his mind was in chaos.

The twins had been rowdy, finding out that Jacqueline was coming home with their unknown older brother. The amount of questions they asked wore their parents out; getting them to bed was a hassle.

Finally, they had curled up into their twin sized beds, and gotten sleepy.

Blaise had breathed a sigh of relief; now he could finally rest.

Or so he thought.

He sighed, Winter stirring at his side.

"Can't sleep?" she murmured, tiredly.

"My mind is running a hundred miles a second."

She rolled over, blue eyes staring up at her husband, long black hair down and splayed out around her face.

"Do you want to talk?" she asked.

"Gods, you're beautiful," he said, kissing her head.

She smiled, nudging him. "That's not what's got your mind befuddled, Blaise darling."

"Au contraire," he said, hugging her tight with one arm. "You are right, though. It's not the only thing on my mind."

It was silent for a moment as Winter waited for Blaise to elaborate.

"Winter, you remember last year how you asked me what I'd do if Jack came back?"

"Of course. And you said you'd do whatever makes me happy."

"It's all I ever want to do, make you happy," he said, kissing her forehead. "I'm not… angry anymore. I want my eldest son back home."

"Yes, I know," she said quietly.

"Winter… I never asked you what you'd do."

"Do if Jack came back?"

"Mhmm," he said, frowning. "What… what would you do, Winter? What will you do?"

She was silent for a while, playing with the fingers on Blaise's free hand.

"I… I don't know," she said, shocked. "I mean… I guess I just feel numb. I read the letter, you gave it to me. But it's so hard to believe he's coming home. It's such a foreign thought…"

"I know. It'll be different."

"Blaise, I'm afraid," Winter said, drawing herself closer to him, her head on his shoulder.

"Why?"

"I…I've never told anyone, not even you or Mother or my sisters…but it often feels like he… doesn't exist. I can't—the connection."

"Ah, that's right."

Not only did Jack share a connection with Jacqueline. There was a family connection, too. Every mother had it—they were connected to their children in their mind, and soul. Strands much like the ones that connected the two wintry sprites connected Winter to Jacqueline, Fiera, Fino, and Jack.

But Jack had done something unthinkable.

He had severed his connection with his mother.

Or so everyone thought.

The truth, that Winter concealed, was this: she had cut the connection first.

Blaise was the only one who knew.

And perhaps, on some level, Jack.

Severing connections was a thing of actual myth. It was unheard of—nobody did it. So when Winter found she could do it, she was shocked—but it helped to alleviate the pain of her firstborn leaving.

"I split the connection between us, and now it's nearly as if he was never born. If what Jacqueline has said is true, I…"

"Go on, Winter darling."

"I need to fix it. But will Jack want to fix the connection, too? Blaise, what have I done?"

He could feel the tears on his bare shoulder.

"Winter, my dear, shh, it's okay. You did what you thought was best. When he comes back, we'll try to fix it. Please don't feel guilty.

"Blaise, I just want to make things right."

"And we will, dear. We will. I promise."

Moving his hand over her tiny waist, Blaise dragged his lovely wife closer to his warm body, engulfing her in a large, protective hug. She rested her head on his chest, returning the embrace just as hard.

"Tomorrow, I think I'm going to do some yard work." He'd wait outside for their arrival, and judge for himself.

"Alright," Winter mumbled, the tears dried, her voice sleepy once more.

"Don't worry, Winter. I have you. It'll all be okay."

He felt her nod against his chest.

"Blaise?"

"Mmm?"

"I love you," she mumbled, falling asleep.

"And I, you," he replied, squeezing her and shutting his eyes.

Sleep would come now; everything would be okay.

* * *

Morning arrived, and with it, a large crowd had gathered to see the two sprites off. They had given the sprites a wide berth of space, with Santa standing beside Jack, Bernard by his side. Elle stood with them, chatting with Jacqueline.

Jacqueline herself stood beside Jack, who was nervous beyond belief. They didn't have any bags; he just wore his suit—sans the frost—and Jacqueline wore her frozen dress, as usual.

"Are you sure this is the best idea?" Elle asked.

"It's the best I can think of. Elle, Bernard, I am so sorry for putting you behind so much," Jacquie began again.

"Oh, it's okay, really."

"How is it okay…?" Bernard began, interrupted with an elbow from Elle, who quickly shushed him.

"Ignore him. We got relatively back up to speed, really."

"Elle's right, actually," Bernard said. "We did fix things up faster than I expected. We're only behind by a day or so now, which is much better than the week it was before. Just…focus on getting better. And fixing your brother. That's what's most important. The Deliquesce needs to be stopped."

"If it isn't stopped, we'll lose the magic. So no pressure, eh?" Santa said, patting Jack's back.

"Ha, right… no pressure…"

"Lighten up Jack. I know you'll manage. You and Jacqueline will find a way to stop the Deliquesce."

"Of course we will, nothing stops a Frost."

Santa rolled his eyes.

"We'll fix it, Santa. I've grown quite attached to your lovely home here. I couldn't possibly see all this destroyed."

Jack got serious for a moment, looking Santa dead in the eye. "I will stop at nothing to save Christmas for you. _Nothing._"

"I know, Jack." Santa said. And quite uncharacteristically, the two Legendary Figures hugged.

"Awwhhhh," The elves surrounding them chorused.

"Now one last thing," Jacqueline said, walking out of the covered area, and staring at the icy dome above.

"You got this," Jack said, appearing behind Jacqueline and placing his hands on her shoulder, squeezing.

But then, the strangest thing happened.

As Jack placed his hands on his sister's shoulders, there was a bright blue light. Jack could feel the familiar icy magic hugging his hands, floating around his sleeves. He gasped, staring at what was happening. Jacqueline, likewise, did the same.

"Keep your hands there, Jack," she said, as she wiggled her fingers, icy tendrils appearing.

"Why?"

"I wanna try something," she said. "Focus on the Ice Capp, and freezing it over."

"Alright," Jack said, closing his eyes and focusing only on the icy walls.

The swirling icy magic in Jacqueline's palms grew brighter, and bigger. Smiling, she put all her power into it. Jack, though he didn't know it yet, was doing the same.

The swirling blue light and snowflakes blasted up, hitting the middle of the ice cap. It grew around the centre at the top, slowly stretching out and spreading across the walls, until all of the North Pole and Elfsburg were coated in the shimmering light blue light.

It brightened considerably, then disappeared, blue sparkles falling down and turning into the gentlest of flurries.

There was a very long silence.

"Did we just do that?" Jack asked, hands down, staring up into the flurry.

"Yeah, we did." Jacqueline replied, standing in much the same position.

"What _was_ that?!" Santa asked.

"Iunno," Jacquie said, dumbfounded.

"That was _amazing!_" Elle shouted, the elves clapping along with her.

Bernard looked puzzled for a moment. He was trying very hard to remember the long ago meeting the Council of Legendary Figures had when Legates were first established. That seemed so familiar… shaking his curly head, he snapped out of his trance.

"Alright elves, enough is enough! These two got to get going. We're still behind on production, let's get moving!" he said.

"Say goodbye then back to work, elves," Elle added. Smiling, the elves swarmed Jack and his sister, hugging them and running off in different directions.

Santa came up beside Jack, once more, leaning in near his ear.

"Nervous about going home?" Santa whispered.

"Extremely," he whispered back.

"If you need anything, just call. I'm here for you buddy. It'll be fine."

"I know," Jack said, absent mindedly.

Santa stepped back, giving a small wave and a warm smile.

And with that, the two siblings linked arms, still in a daze. The snowflakes started swirling around them, faster and faster and faster, until a bright white light engulfed them, and they disappeared.

* * *

As the flurry cleared, Jack's jaw dropped.

"Welcome back to Crystal Springs," Jacqueline said.

Jack let out a low whistle.

Crystal Springs was gorgeous, it was simply put. They had appeared on one of the large hills surrounding the city. In the far off distance, Jack could see the other mountains and the rushing waterfall, which split into the four rivers at the base, mermaids giggling and flirting with the immortals around the rivers. The water faeries spectrum of blue glows followed the river, the sparks of the other elemental faeries floating gently around their areas. Trees of all colours, supporting large amounts of snow, grew along the roots of one humongous tree somewhere in the middle of the town, sprouting between the buildings and houses, the mansions and cottages.

Jack could _feel_ the thousands of types of magic in the air, as he watched the small specs of people walk back and forth in the distance, going about their morning routine. The market square was set up, a colourful splash in the distance.

He could barely take in the architecture, as it were. Every house, cottage or mansion was personalized to the creatures who lived there. Vibrant colours, bold architectural statements, and flamboyant material reflected who lived where.

It was magical.

"Not what you expected, hmm?"

"I…it's been so long, I completely forgot how whimsical Crystal Springs was."

Jacqueline laughed, rolling down the snowy hill.

Smiling, Jack walked behind her rolling body, as she landed in a large snow pile at the base of the hill.

"Feel better?" he asked.

"For now, yeah. I got a lot of explaining to do at home, though," she said, sighing.

There was a long silence, both sprites thinking about what had happened back at the North Pole.

Jack had felt as though his powers were back in that moment. He looked at his sister, about to ask for her thoughts, when he noticed her frowning.

"Am I supposed to be consoling right now?"

"Normally, yes, but I'll make an acception for now."

Getting up, she dusted the white flakes off her dress, making her way through the snow.

Jack followed, hands in his pockets.

Jacqueline turned a corner, where they came across a quiet street, evergreen trees on either side. The snow fell gently, as they made their way down the incline, and slowly, a large mansion began to appear.

Jack stopped suddenly, staring at what was before him.

It was a large, three story mansion with pristine, white bricks. Willow trees swayed on the property, a lovely gazebo off to the far right. Rose bushes dotted the winding path to the veranda, still blooming despite the season.

Jacqueline waltzed right up to the gates, walking through as they opened for her. She stopped and turned around, looking at her brother.

She had never, ever seen him look as scared as he did now.

"Jack?"

"Jacqueline, there's no way I can—I can't. I can't."

"Yes, you can," Jacqueline said. "I'm here for you, all right?" she held out her hand, waiting for him to cross the threshold.

Breathing in, Jack stepped through the iron gates, and took his sister's outstretched hand.

"Welcome home, Jack."

As they walked up the path, Jack noticed a man rounding the corner of the house, his arms filled with firewood. Jack stopped and stared, Jacquie waiting patiently beside him.

The man looked equivalent to a fit mortal forty year old, perhaps. He wore a dark red shirt, the sleeves rolled up despite the cold weather. His pants looked as if they were made of molten lava, a fiery orange and perhaps a little bit too dressy to be outside doing yard work. His skin was somewhere between medium and olive, slight wrinkles on his forehead. His hair burnt—literally. Its flames shot straight up, matching his warm orange eyes. The man looked at the path, and noticed the two figures

Jack gulped.

The man walked towards them, his face a mixture of emotions. He dropped the wood and came down the path, face to face with Jack.

"Hello, father," Jack said shyly.

His father stared at him. Jack braced himself, fearing the worst but instead, Blaise's face broke into a weary smile.

He reached out and embraced Jack.

"Welcome home, son."

* * *

**A/N I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE ****THINKING**

**DANI WHAT BLAISE ISN'T MAD**

**NO. NO HE'S NOT (ANYMORE)**

**BWAHAHAHAHA. Ahem. Apologies for the late update, I was in emerge all morning/early afternoon with my friend. She's okay and so am I, if anything we're both exhausted!**

**I'd like to thank WinterFrost15 for one little piece of dialogue in this chapter...when Jacqueline calls Jack a pompous git xD WinterFrost15 used it in a review a WHILE ago and I had to have someone in the story call Jack a pompous git after reading the review xD So thanks, friend! (You should all totally check out her story Frost and Fire, btw. It's a slight AU to MTF/CS, and it's SO GREAT SO FAR gogogo read it :D)**

**I totally didn't realize that you'd all get this chapter this week, wow! Updates will still be as normally scheduled, since I have appeared to have made it to Chapter 16. Not sure how fast I'll be writing for the next little while, since it's exam season and I need to start hunting down a job for the summer, sighsigh. Any tips for job hunts?**

**As usual, please review and spill all your thoughts, feels, secrets, and general whatsits in that little white box :)**

**Happy CS Lundi! :)**

* * *

**DISCLAIMER**

**I do not own**_**The Santa Clause**_**, nor do I own Jack Frost, Bernard, Santa/Scott Calvin, or any other canon characters mentioned or seen above. I am making no profit off of this, it is purely for my enjoyment as well as that of the readers. I do, however, own Jacqueline Frost, as well as her family: Blaise Frost, Winter Frost, Fino Frost and Fiera Frost, and their home, Crystal Springs. Any resemblance they bear to any specific person or persons is purely coincidental; please do not use them without MY permission. In this context, the Deliquesce is an idea that belongs to myself.****The Legate concept is also mine; I do not mind anyone using it, so long as credit is given where credit is due.**

**I also do not own Elle. She belongs to Ana, aka etiquette-faux-pas. I am merely borrowing Ms Connolly (hope I spelt that right) and have vowed to return her (relatively) unharmed.**


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